SIC
by GinAnndNothingElse
Summary: Break-ups, hook-ups, gangs chaos in High school for Arthur Kirkland, will him and his friends have enough time to sort it all out, or will this time of their lives some day be an 'if only' of past regrets? Rated T. Human names used. AU Hetalia. Gakuen.
1. Chapter 1

Seven fifteen sharp on a Monday morning. It's the start of a whole new year at Caprees High School and already things seemed to be picking up right away. Kids were already fitting into their specific groups and this year was going to be no different than any other. The only things that were different was that everyone's a year older, some maybe two-to-three inches taller, some may be thinner of fatter than last we saw them and of course someone either broke up before the school year started or everyone is talking about the hot new hook-ups.

_Bah! Who cares, people and their ridiculous relationships, who needs them!_

Arthur Kirkland was entering this year as a senior, he was your pretty average guy, with certain above average qualities, like his eyebrows, and above else a short fuse. Some would say he had anger issues, and there was always someone out there ready to start a fight with poor Arthur. He on the other hand just wanted to be left alone.

That wasn't to say though there weren't some people he liked hanging out with, he wasn't alien to the term 'friend'; he had friends. In fact, after school today he was hanging out with one.

He was meeting him on the track field at exactly four after school, give or take a few minutes knowing that guy and his scatter brain would forget around midday only to remember at 4:01 and come running from somewhere going.

"Oh my god! Man I'm so sorry I totally forgot we were meeting at 4, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

_Yeah, that's very much the scene. What's even sadder is that it'll play out EXACTLY like that and I won't even get to be like "see I was right"._

OOO

"Is my life that predictable? Gee that's actually kind of depressing," Arthur mumbled.

"What's depressing?" asked someone who was sitting behind Arthur.

_Eh! Shit I didn't think anyone else would sit in here during break._

As Arthur turned around his fear of who might have heard him eased when he saw a violet eyed, concerned look form the pretty much nicest guy at their school.

"Oh Matthew it's just you, you worried me a bit, I thought you might've been someone I'm trying to avoid," followed by a relieved sigh.

"Oh, and who might that be? Ah…sorry, you don't have to tell me."

The greatest quality about Matthew Jones was that not only was he quiet but he also really cared about everyone's problems. This was good for those who constantly needed to have someone to talk to, but also a bad thing for Matthew, because no one ever really bothered to ask about him in return.

Not even his own brother cared enough to ask him what's up once in a while. But his likability guaranteed him a 'get out of bullying free card' because there wasn't a single person at this school who thought picking on him was cool or fun.

In fact, he was so nice that if someone caught you picking on him, Matthew's collected fan girls would key your car, slash your tires and steal you license plate (as a souvenir of your defeat) as just a warning, just imagine if you hurt him! It was a scary thought.

"No, no, it's ok you can ask, uh, but sorry I can't really say it," Arthur was having a tough time looking Matthew in the eyes; they were too honest and kind. He felt he might let it all slip out if he even mentioned one tiny detail; it would be like a dam breaking.

"Oh, I see. Well I hope everything works out with this person, so you don't have to hide in here all by yourself anymore," Matthew gave a soft smile that nearly broke Arthur's heart, and said goodbye. Outside the door it appeared that someone was waiting for him, that explained why Matthew didn't press for any more information, but god was he kind! To make his other friend wait just to ask HIM what was wrong! Arthur almost wanted to cry.

_What a kid!_

"Hey, Matthew…thanks!" Arthur called out before Matthew could leave the classroom, the junior turned around just long enough to give another kind smile and a slight wave before grabbing his friend by the arm and leaving Arthur's sight by turning down the opposite hall.

OOO

High school is so typical it almost hurts. The day starts at seven fifteen in the morning with an obnoxious ring, classes are barely an hour long, with a 45 minute lunch, depending on whether you were a senior you maybe had 5 classes. Otherwise the max you could take were 7, that is unless you were an overachiever and took "special classes" that started **ungodly** early in the morning, in which case a student can take 8. Though seniors were the only ones with the option to do the special classes, most students, like Arthur, didn't care to suck up and do something like waste his time that instead could be used for sleeping, on learning more worthless crap he would never use again in his life.

So with that schedule everyone got out around 3:00 PM which left after school activities open. Sports and art clubs started and everyone in one of those groups on a good day would probably get home around 5 or just before 6 PM, just in time for dinner.

Arthur was also in an after school sport club, the amazing game of football.

The after school routine was typical too, bell rings to release students, you walk down to the gym, open your locker, change into your uniform.

_Ugly thing, wish we'd get new ones._

Walk onto the field, everyone goes through warm ups, basics, then a break. Run some drills, do more warm ups, group talk on anything coming up, meet ends, you go back into the locker room, shower, and finally go home.

Although it was typical it was not as horrible as the school routine. You joined a club to do something you liked, so the end of the day wasn't met with joy of TV or the dread of homework upon going right home. A large portion of students went home after school, but for those who were dedicated to something, like a team or a group, you felt like a part of something, you belonged there, it was an amazing feeling. For Arthur, running home was out of the question when it came to his teammates and his coach.

OOO

As Arthur was walking out of the locker room on his way to the field a sudden crash startled him, hoping someone wasn't hurt he rushed over to see what had happened. When he turned the corner Arthur was surprised to see Lovino Vargas and Antonio Fernandez Carriedo.

Lovino looked extremely upset; it almost looked as though he was crying. Arthur quickly hid behind the corner of the building he had just turned from and decided to listen in on what they were talking about.

_Impossible. __**THE **__Lovino Vargas, crying?_

The guy was way too tough to show his tears in front of someone else, especially Antonio, practically everyone knew that when it came to these two, they were like salt and vinegar. The cutest name Lovino had for Antonio was 'jerk' or the even cuter 'bastard' it was clear that as far as their relationship went, Antonio was lucky Lovino didn't stab him and throw his body in a river somewhere. And yet…here Lovino was, tears in his eyes. Antonio however had the harshest expression of pain across his face; as if it was literally killing him to see Lovino cry. It was as though he would literally lie down and die right then and there just to make Lovino stop.

This realization made Arthur blush a little. What he was witnessing was not a fight between two people who hated each other, but rather it was a scene between two lovers.

"What the hell are you saying you bastard?! Do you realize what people will say if we do something like that?!"

Still crying Lovino slammed the trash can again (the noise Arthur had heard from before), his fierce gaze never once leaving Antonio.

"I am fully aware of what people will say, but I don't care Lovino! I love you! I truly deeply till death takes me away, want to love you for as long as I'm capable, with everything I have to offer you! Please, please, mi corazon, do not be ashamed of us! Do not fear what others think, I will protect you, from anything, from any words that come to your ears that could hurt your heart. Lovino!"

*Through his speech Antonio had moved himself in front of Lovino, wrapping his left arm around Lovino's waist, while his right hand was on his face, whipping away his tears*

"I shall be your shield, I shall be your blade, and all I ask Lovino is that you trust me."

Lovino's tears had begun to lessen at this point; his eyes were now filling with adoration for the man who he knew loved him more than anything, and would never let anything bad happen to him. Lovino completely let his guard down, he began to return Antonio's embrace and in a sensual, passionate motion kissed Antonio, who only tightened his hold on Lovino.

Arthur couldn't handle the scene. His face was so incredibly red he felt his head might explode.

_What am I still doing here?! I feel like a pervert staying here and watching this! _

As Arthur was about to stomp away he overheard the last thing Lovino said to Antonio.

"Fine. I guess I'm ok with it now. We'll tell my brother first though, and then we can start to tell others. Antonio, I'm ready to go public about us." And with that it was official; word would soon be out that Lovino Vargas and Antonio Fernandez Carriedo were dating.

OOO

"What the hell was all that about?" Arthur grumbled.

As he walked onto the football field, no one was there yet. It was mostly due to the fact Arthur didn't have a final class of the day, so he got to kill time doing whatever he wanted. He also didn't have a first class, so he had a lot of time to kill every day.

If he had a car and drove himself he would sleep in and then go home early every day, but with no car he was either stuck carpooling or taking the bus. So every day he had about two hours to himself. It really sucked, especially when he did all his homework and had nothing more to do.

Today was no different, and seeing as it was the start of the year he was already prepared, while the incoming freshmen who joined the team would need to be run through all the beginners' procedures. Meaning Arthur had even more time to kill than usual.

_I'm still a little stunned about all that, how can those two be ga-…what am I thinking? I make it seem like I don't accept gays! That's so not the truth, I…I have no room to talk here actually. . ._

-Sigh-

"I'm glad" Arthur smiled to himself after a while.

"I really am glad, good for them," Arthur now moved to the bleachers so he could sit and wait for everyone else to show up.

_What a beautiful day. I needed this, after everything that happened over break, coming back to school was what I needed. Homework, friends, teachers, sports! I need them to take my mind off everything…off of that incident…off of HIM…_

"HEY ARTHURRRRR, earth to Arthur! Helllloooooo!"

Before he had even realized it, he had fallen asleep.

_Damn. _

Standing over him was one of his fellow seniors Yao Wang who was looking rather irritated, more so than usual.

"What do you think you're doing, aru? Don't you even realize you're at school, and on the football field no less, it's so dangerous to just fall asleep out here in the open, what if someone came by and kidnapped you? Huh? Then what, Arthur are you even listening?!"

Unlike Matthew who was one to always listen; Yao was the kind who tended to worry a lot. The kind to stress over things until he went crazy, building and building until finally he snapped. Yao tended to worry about others far too much, more than they needed.

And even though Arthur knew Yao had a point, he didn't exactly think anyone would come up and take a 17 year old boy who had fallen asleep on some high school bleachers. Besides, it's not as if he planned to fall asleep here.

"Yeah, yeah, I heard you, I'm sorry, it sort of just happened, it's been a long day," Arthur attempting and failing to make a case that would get Yao to ease off a little.

"A hard day? A hard day you say! You don't have extra classes, you don't have a first OR last period, you have less homework having only five classes and you say "it's been a long day"! HA! That's really funny Arthur; you're a real comedian you know, HA, really that was a good one, GET OUT ON THE FIELD NOW, ARU!"

_Sheesh, what's his deal? Is he that stressed out already…maybe it has something to do with that new guy, Ivan Braginski? I heard rumors he was causing some problems since he moved here at the start of the summer, and already today there were stories of him bothering some of the upper classmen. I don't think Yao was one of them though, right? I better just stay on his good side this practice and then head home quickly._

OOO

Aside from the bumpy start before practice, everything went smoothly for the rest of the meet; all the beginners settled in and aside from the few stalls, warm-ups didn't leave everyone completely drained. All in all it was a great start to a great year for the football team.

Arthur was feeling especially proud seeing he was one of only five seniors on the team. Everyone else was a junior, a very few sophomores, and only a couple freshmen, so he had a lot of authority placed on him by Yao, and Arthur loved the feeling of having power. He also felt good because the sport helped occupy his mind from his problems, he never once thought about HIM, and he was feeling free, for the first time in a while.

The feeling he hated most though was that, when practice was over, he went back to feeling stressed; he was starting to get very tired of that feeling.

But as he was showering, he felt a new ray of hope forming in his chest. At 4:00 sharp he would be on the track field waiting for his friend, they would grab their stuff and head home. Arthur would help him with his homework and then the two of them could either play video games or watch movies.

Though Arthur hoped it wouldn't be another horror film, sometimes it was nice to watch something that DIDN'T scare the hell out of that guy, but even if they did, Arthur just looked forward to preoccupying himself for a while.

Hopping out of the shower Arthur changed into his spare clothes, tossed his practice uniform back in his bag and headed for the door. He tossed a quick "see ya" wave at Yao, who was too deep in thought to notice and closed the door behind him. It was still an hour and a half away before the sun set, so the sky was still wonderfully clear and bright, and as Arthur was walking around the school toward the track field, he couldn't help but feel content.

Things felt ok. In fact they were so 'ok' Arthur started to whistle, something he hadn't done in quite a while, nothing special just something by The Beatles, and as he came up to the field he saw that someone was sitting on the bench to the right end.

_No way! He's actually on time for once, damn and here I was so sure I would be right again, oh well, you win some you lose some. Hmph, though I would like to always be right when it comes to this guy._

"Geez for once you're on time, now it looks like I'm late," Arthur said jokingly.

"Ha ha, very funny, I tried really hard to get here early this time, I remember how annoyed you were last time I was late."

_This guy, he's too much._

"So can we head home now or what," this time Arthur said it more mockingly, seeing as around this moment his friend will say something like

_Three, two, one and…_

"Ah! Wait, dude I'm so sorry I totally forgot something in the science room!"

_And just how did I know! See? I am always right about him, ha._

"Hey Arthur would you mind if I went and got it real quick?"

"Of course not, I'll come with you; if it won't take you too long we'll just go home afterwards. Alright?"

_Heh, I'm such a good friend~_

"Eh, really Arthur? Well if you don't mind, it'll really only take me a few seconds, but if you want, sure come on."

If Arthur didn't know this guy so well he would've been annoyed at how predictable he was, but after so long it became natural, as long as he was there it didn't really matter what they were doing. All he needed to do was forget about HIM and it was all ok, though he really wanted to get going, he lazily followed his friend back towards the school.

X

A/N: holy hell that was long, 2nd chapter will be shorter (I know seeing as I wrote it first)

I do NOT own Hetalia nor did I create any of the characters that credit goes to Himaruya.

As a Hetalia fan fiction; I don't feel it was necessary to go too much into details on appearance, seeing as most of the characters are already known. The characters will be named as they're introduced:

Arthur Kirkland – England  
Matthew Jones – Canada  
Lovino Vargas - S. Italy  
Antonio Fernandez Carriedo – Spain  
Yao Wang – China  
I van Braginski - Russia

Differentiation of speech, thought, flashback and action:  
Speech is anything in "parentheses"  
thought is in _Italics (_as of this chapter the only one thinking is Arthur)  
Action will be put in *asterisks*  
Flashback will be in **bold**

Should multiple characters be doing something different I shall give explanation. But, hopefully nothing will be too complicated.

Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

After having met up with his friend, Arthur was told they needed to stop by the science room to pick something up. Not caring to waste some time he agreed and they headed back into the school. Stopping just outside the room his friend said

"Wait here a sec Arthur, I'll just grab it and we'll go."

"Fine, but don't get sidetracked and leave me out here too long," Arthur said semi-seriously

As Arthur was waiting in the hall he started to look around, as he turned to look down the opposite end of the hall from where he and his friend had come in he spotted a familiar small boy. He had startling orange hair, and was wearing blue shorts with what looked like a prestigious school uniform jacket, and . . . . paint on his face, attempting to sneak a peek into the girl's bathroom.

_What a pervert this guy is._ _Sheesh._

Arthur decided to have a little fun with him. And as he walked toward him he started

"Hey you! Do I need to have a teacher call the police and have them charge you with sexual harassment?"

Upon hearing someone shouting at him the boy flinched, and then started to decide whether he should A) run away or B) turn around and defend himself. The kid obviously had some guts because he chose B, as he whipped around furiously, eyes glaring, he said to Arthur

"What I do is none of YOUR damn business! Now buzz off old man!"

_WHAT! _

Arthur went from nonchalant to livid in five seconds.

"Old man?! OLD MAN! Just who the hell do you think you are you snot nosed little punk?!"

Without much thought Arthur stomped forward and grabbed the kid by the arm and turned him around.

"You obviously have some kind of death wish to mouth off to an older student like that; I'll give you one chance to make it up to me. Say the magic words."

This kid wasn't afraid of anything, so his response was

"Fuck you!"

OOO

"ERLAND!"

Without Arthur even realizing it, his friend had witnessed the whole scene between him and the boy. The friend wasn't really all that concerned with Arthur, seeing as it was typical for him to lose his temper like that, but the real surprise was the kid. What language!

"You should know better than to say things like that, save it for outside and away from important ears!"

"Important ears? What the hell are you talking about, no one's even freaking here!" Erland stated angrily.

"You never know who might be around, you should be more careful, and as for your attitude toward Arthur, apologize now!"

"LIKE HELL I WILL, he started it! He threatened me!"

This boy was bound and determined to push Arthur past his breaking point.

_Must not hit kids, must not hit kids, must not hit..._

"THAT'S IT, come 'ere you little-"

As he was about to lunge forward his companion grabbed him around the waist and help him back.

"W-what do you think you're doing Arthur, please calm down! Erland is just a little, well you know, special!"

As Arthur was trying to escape the hold he was currently in, Erland took that time to mock Arthur one last time before running away.

"Nya~ nya~ na na na~ you suck!'' *sticking his tongue out at Arthur*

"COME BACK HERE YOU GOD DAMN BRAT! Let me go! Damn it all, I'll get you!"

"Oh my~ what is this scene I have walked in on? Hmm~ is that Arthur I see wrapped in the arms of another man? My heart, my heart is aching!"

OOO

As if Arthur's mood couldn't get any worse. Of all the people to see now it just HAD to be HIM. Francis Bonnefoy. He had the worst timing of any human being he knew.

_Why now damn it, and why him; DAMN IT!_

"Tch, come on Francis you have no room to complain if Arthur acts a little frisky, after all, who was that person you were with just yesterday?"

It was one thing for it to be Francis, but of course he would be nothing without his two tag along idiots, Gilbert and Antonio, though the trio was just a duo right now, and no one really cared where stooge Number Three was. Simply because, well...Francis and Gilbert managed to hog all the trouble with just the two of them, one was annoying, as for the other, he even more annoying!

Which one was which was up to you to decide, for Arthur, Francis was the most evil, annoying, perverted bastard he knew, and he only just showed up now of all times.

_Where was he when that damn kid was here? Of course he didn't see any of that! And person, what the hell! What person? NO not now Arthur, not the time to care about any of that. . ._

By now the guy who had been holding Arthur back let go and was standing oddly close to him. But not oddly as in possessive or protective, but more like, _If Arthur goes crazy again I need to be close enough to hold him back, I am the only one who can do that after all!_

Which was indeed true, no one had the strength this guy did, and no one knew more about Arthur than he did either. Alfred F. Jones had been a good friend to Arthur for many years, he knew all his secrets, and most of all what got under his skin. Though in this situation Alfred could do nothing else but stand back and watch. Francis, when it came to Arthur, was a special case.

_What to do, what to do? Hmmm...I think its best we bolt before something else goes wrong. _Alfred thought_._

"Arthur, we gotta go, if we hang out here any longer we're gonna miss that special tonight on...polar bears!" Alfred interjected

At first the sudden mention of polar bears had every one in a 'what the fuck?' moment, but then Arthur, knowing what Alfred was doing took the hint and joined in.

"Ah! You're right, we need to watch that if we're going to start that report on the effects of global warming, we better head home, thanks for the reminder."

As Alfred and Arthur tried to part ways, Francis felt a little betrayed, and as always when it came to Alfred's and Arthur's relationship, angry.

_How dare that blue eyed idiot play hero like that! _Francis thought bitterly.

But unfortunately Arthur just wanted to get away so quickly Francis was left there in the hall with Gilbert.

"Hmph, maybe next time dude, you'll get him, just wait," encouraged Gilbert.

"Ah! Speaking of 'getting him' did you hear as to what our beloved third member did today hmm~" Francis inquired.

"Eh? What?" Gilbert looked confused.

Francis began to laugh, "Oh no! You don't know? Well, let me fill you in on all the dirty details."

Francis began to giggle very devilishly.

X

A/N:

I do NOT own Hetalia nor did I create any of the characters that credit goes to Himaruya.

Seeing as this is a Hetalia story the characters introduced are as followed:

Alfred F. Jones - America  
Francis Bonnefoy - France  
Gilbert Beilschmidt – Prussia  
Erland - Ladonia

Differentiation of speech, thought, flashback and action:  
Speech is anything in "parentheses"  
thought is in _Italics_  
Action will be put in *asterisks*  
Flashback will be in **bold**

Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

Heavy sigh.

"Man! What a long day that was…I'm exhausted!"

Arthur having recently tossed his bag on Alfred's dining room table, doing what looked like drunk diving, fell on the couch. Slamming his face into the pillows and leaving his legs to dangle over the side.

"Come on Arthur, I doubt the whole day was a bust. In fact I'm betting up until after school, today went pretty swell."

_This damn guy, I wish he'd get the bloody hell out of my head, for once I'd like to complain without him cutting right past my pointless chit-chat into the heart of my annoyance._

"Yeah, yeah…whatever."

Arthur wished he could just fall asleep right then and there, with his face buried in the pine scented fragrance that was Alfred's house. To just fall into his subconscious and dream his life away, how wonderful it would be to live in his dream land for all of eternity. No worries, no cares, no past, present or future; just dreams.

"You okay?" Alfred asked with sincere concern.

This time Arthur rolled over onto his side and looked Alfred straight in the eyes. As if he wanted his eyes to answer that question for him, to let their eyes meet and all of a sudden Alfred would know everything Arthur thought.

_I wish such a thing could happen, I don't have the strength to tell him everything…but I knew this time would come when he's ask me more about it…he already knows basically everything about me… I can trust him…he's the only one I really trust actually. . ._

"No. No I'm not okay. First of all, I hate having so much damn time to myself, if I was happy I wouldn't mind it. If that were the case I'd spend my wasted hour's daydreaming about useless fantasies, but noooo, I spend my time wallowing in my past, dreading seeing HIS face all the time! Wondering when I'll be able to look at that asshole without wanting to cry! Or not wanting him to burst into flames! I'm miserable! And secondly I hate that even though I have so much time everyone gives me shit about it! What do they expect?! Huh? it's not like it's my fault they ended up taking on so much more than me, why is it my problem everyone else cares so much more about school than I do? IT'S NOT! Alright! So why am I getting everyone's stress chucked at me like stones? And thirdly I'm sick and tired of being alo-"

_What am I saying? I know I wanted to vent but that's not the direction I wanted to head toward…alo- alone? It's true…I'm sick and tired of feeling so alone. . ._

OOO

_Chink_ and _click_.

The door knob turned and the front door to Alfred's house opened.

"Ah, brother you're home early…oh, hey Arthur."

Matthew had walked in the door carrying groceries. Out of the top of one bag it looked like he had bought some vegetables and its green leafage was hanging over the side. In the other, sitting on the top was a bag of chips.

Matthew of course was alone; he never brought anyone home with him. His brother on the other hand tended to have someone over every day, and 90% of the time that person was him.

Arthur felt a little guilty about that, he was over constantly. He was like a third member of the family and yet he didn't do anything that someone in the family would do. Cleaning, chores, shopping, driving, nothing, he kind of just showed up whenever, stayed for as long as he wanted and then left with a thanks. He felt he was a nuisance but did nothing to change his ways other than to buy them anything they wanted when they were out and about. Matthew and Alfred on the other hand didn't mind having him around, and they didn't mind him not doing much when he was over.

"Oh, here let me help you with that," Alfred had gotten up to help his brother bring in and put away whatever he had bought.

"Don't be silly Alfred I got it, why don't you get set up and put a movie in, I'll start dinner now, what do you guys want?"

Arthur noticed that the moment Matthew said he didn't need help Alfred stopped in his tracks and went to sit down again. He didn't even attempt to make a slight advance to help even though his brother said no, so instead Matthew put everything away.

_I wonder if that annoys him? If I were Matthew I would've just said what I really meant, but again Matthew is just keeping it all inside, what a scene these two are, they're brothers and yet they don't even act like it. Alfred you idiot, you should have insisted, and even if he said 'no don't bother'; he wouldn't be able to do anything once you already started!_

"I really don't mind, I'll be happy to eat anything you make Matthew," Arthur answered.

He had gotten over his little rant pretty quickly, but the tension still lingered and it was obvious the conversation wasn't over. In fact the minute Matthew walked in Alfred looked annoyed, he wanted to continue and talk with Arthur, but with Matthew there now it was out of the question. So instead it seemed he would be taking out his annoyance about it on his poor brother.

"I want burgers, and not the kind you made last time with that stuff you put on it, that was nasty, I almost couldn't even finish it!"

_I swear, if it wasn't for the good 85% of kindness and foolishness that is Alfred I would think he was a real asshole!_

"Ah…sorry brother, I wanted to try something new last time, I'm sorry I guess it failed, so just the usual, alright, I got it" Matthew tried not to sound hurt, but again, Arthur caught it.

"Alfred how about you try saying that more kindly! And why burgers again? Don't you have any taste? Try something new once in a while, sheesh," Arthur said, but unlike when speaking to Matthew, he was a lot harsher.

This didn't sit well at all with Alfred, and the mood in the room shifted quickly. Even Matthew flinched at the sudden realization of where this was going, and all he wanted to do was run and hide now that his brother was pissed.

"Why? Why do you ALWAYS have to take his side?! Why is it every time we say something to each other you automatically take his side and team up against me? What's wrong with liking burgers?! What's wrong with not liking new things? I like the regular way? So why act like I'm so…so, BORING!"

_Again with this, he always misunderstands, it's not that I ALWAYS stick up for Matthew, it's just I can't stand to see you treat him so badly! And for what? You don't even realize the great brother you have you moron!_

_Shit, I can't even say that to him, I want to, and I should, but…_

"You misunderstood what I was saying Alfred, so calm down, and I don't always stick up for Matthew and team up against you, it's just…I don't feel like burgers, and I'm sorry I said you didn't have any taste. Listen I don't want to fight with you, so let's just forget about it, alright?"

Alfred ignored Arthur for a while, so in the meantime he told Matthew to make whatever he felt like. In the end he decided to go ahead and make chicken sandwiches, with all the fixings one could want on one, served alongside the chips Arthur saw in the grocery bag earlier.

For a small time the awkward feeling in the room remained at a high, what broke the tension wasn't an awkward meaningless conversation piece brought on by anyone, but it was the ringing of Alfred's phone that killed the silence.

~Let's rock, everybody, let's rock, everybody in the whole cell block, was dancin' to the Jailhouse Rock~

Click. Beep.

"Hello…this is Alfred…oh hey, how are you….ah me too, I'm great….just eating dinner…. Chicken sandwiches….no, I'm not, my brother and Arthur are here too….we were just gonna watch a movie and do whatever homework we had from today…..what? Of course not, I don't mind!"

Alfred broke from his phone conversation just long enough to ask the other two a quick question.

"Hey, you two don't mind if another person comes over do you?"

Matthew and Arthur responded at the same time and with the same reaction

"Eeehhh?"

Not even waiting to get a full answer from either of the two Alfred said

"Yeah they said no problem, when will you be over….okay, see you in a bit, bye."

OOO

"I can't believe you! You didn't even wait for an answer you jerk! How can you just invite someone over when we just had plans for the three of us?" Arthur was furious.

_This guy…THIS GUY, how can he be that angry? I didn't even say anything that bad! How frustrating is he!_

"I don't see what the big deal is, I mean, it's not as if we were talking anyway, we might as well bring some FUN into this place," Alfred was still ticked and he didn't really care how the other two felt right now.

"Um, I don't really mind Arthur. Al, who was that on the phone anyway? Who's coming over? Did they want to eat too?" Matthew just wanted to end the fighting; it was too much when everyone was angry.

"Oh, well it was Kiku, and no he isn't eating here, he's heading here from the school to just hangout for a while. He said he wanted to do his homework with us. It'll be easier with him anyway, you know how smart he is, and we'll be done twice as fast, right?"

_Damn it, damn it, damn it. Kiku Honda? My day couldn't get any more annoying._

''Whatever,'' dryly responded Arthur.

"Oh how great, well the more the merrier I guess," said Matthew.

''This is gonna be fun!'' concluded Alfred before Kiku got to the house.

OOO

"SAY WHAT?!"

By now Francis had just finished filling Gilbert in on what their friend Antonio had done that day.

"Oh, Gil why are you so shocked? It was only a matter of time before our friend got sick of hiding his relationship with Lovino at school, it was only a matter of seconds as to when Lovino would give in and finally accept that Antonio's no coward! He wants to shout their love to the whole world! It's so romantic! Don't you think?"

It wasn't the fact that Antonio had done it that bothered Gilbert, it was simply a matter of why wasn't he told sooner. Why the hell did Francis know before he did? Didn't Antonio think that he could also tell him anything like he did Francis? Did Antonio think he wasn't accepting of his relationship as Francis was? Did Antonio even trust him? Why? This realization kind of hurt Gilbert, he thought he was as good of friend to Antonio as Francis was. They were known as a trio for a reason! Because the three of them were inseparable, they stood up for each other, fought for each other, helped each other out at times when it was needed…

And yet here they were, in a situation where the '3' was more like a '2' and Gilbert's rejected '1' was feeling really shitty.

_So the hell much for sticking together! What is this? And why the hell is Francis telling me this now? I would rather have waited until tomorrow to hear it from Antonio himself then here and now from Francis, is this bastard rubbing it in?_

Gil, Francis and Antonio had known each other for the longest time; in fact, they've been a trio for so long Gil could barely remember the day they all first met. It was a chance meet up over a box of juice in first grade, and the three of them have been good friends ever since. They had all at some point spent time as just two, because in those cases the third man was already doing something else, so the others hung out together. Gil was never jealous of Francis and Antonio's relationship before, but now, now he felt as though Francis was plotting something.

_He's always plotting something. I now get what that poor bastard Arthur was going through, but fuck, is it because Francis is single and bored he's now turning his games on his own friends? Would you do that you bastard? Are you so deprived of some fun you're gonna pin me against Antonio over something like trust? I refuse to be a pawn in some game; if it's a game you want then go find someone else to play with!_

"HA! This is amazing news, what are you saying? Of course I find it romantic, it's downright adorable! I wish that bastard the best, in fact I think I'll call him later and congratulate him!"

In reality as soon as Gil could ditch Francis he would head over to Antonio's house and confront him on this situation, he even planned to make a pact that they wouldn't let any THING or any ONE break their trust in each other. Gilbert was bound and determined now to make sure he didn't end up being caught in someone's game, whether it be Francis' or anyone else's, he wasn't the kind to be used or pushed around.

_I'm way too awesome for that, I'd look like a damn fool if I did, and to hell with that!_

-Fake yawn-

"Man am I beat, after all this exciting news I think I'm gonna head home now, you should do the same Francis, who knows what's gonna happen tomorrow."

"Hmm… Oh, I guess you're right.'' Francis sighed. ''How boring, and here I thought you'd want to go see Antonio with me, but alas, well seeing as you're so tired I bid you farewell~!"

And with that Francis and Gilbert split ways, Francis to his home and Gilbert, without stopping even once, rushed to Antonio's house.

"I won't let anyone make me look like a pawn, as the leader of Diebe, no one's gonna make a fool of me!"

X

A/N's:

I do NOT own Hetalia nor did I create any of the characters that credit goes to Himaruya.

Seeing as this is a Hetalia story the characters introduced are as followed:

Kiku Honda – Japan

Alfred's ringtone is Jailhouse Rock by Elvis Presley

This is the story (summary more like it) of what Diebe is, first of all it's just a random word I thought of to put into German for a name, so don't think it has any big significant meaning, secondly, in this story there will be 3 opposing gangs, one of which is run by Gil (Prussia) the second and third will be announced later in the story, so Diebe is the name of Gil's gang. Its lame I know, but go with it~

Differentiation of speech, thought, flashback and action:  
Speech is anything in "parentheses"  
thought is in _Italics _  
Action will be put in *asterisks*  
Flashback will be in **bold**

Should multiple characters be doing something different I shall give explanation. But, hopefully nothing will be too complicated.

Thanks for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

Kiku showed up exactly fifteen minutes after he called Alfred. He looked exhausted and appeared in dire need of a very, very long rest. If humans could hibernate Kiku would be one of the few who would be given permission to take time off to do it.

Arthur felt kind of bad for him, his life was hectic. Not only was he the student body president but he also ran most of the major events that happened at school, he had a lot of pressure put on him by the faculty and students. Kiku even ran a few after school clubs, how he managed more than one was unimaginable and Arthur didn't even want to ask. He felt he might get some long explanation where in the end he might flat-out call the other boy a lunatic. Who in their right mind would do all of that? And for what?

Kiku Honda wasn't necessarily an overachiever, he just didn't like to do anything half-heartedly, if he was going to do something, he wanted to do it with everything he had. He was also the kind of guy who didn't want to let down those who put their faith in him; he hated the idea of disappointing others.

When he was first asked to run for student president he said "I'll see what I can do" which in his mind meant 'in a few days after I 'thought about it' I will kindly decline the offer'. But when he heard how many students were supporting him and thought no one else would be a better representative, Kiku had a hard time saying no.

So in the end he ran for the position and won with a landslide of votes, even the teachers were happy they got such a reasonable young man to cooperate with. Usually students pick whoever the most popular is, but in Kiku's case they actually went for the logical choice.

OOO

"Ha~ I'm so sorry I'm coming over so late in the evening Alfred, thank you so much for allowing me over, especially seeing as you already have a guest. I do hope I am not being a bother to your plans".

Kiku was a nice guy, don't get Arthur wrong, he actually had a lot of respect for him, it's just Arthur's day wasn't going how he wanted and he was on edge still from everything. From that brat at the school, to seeing Francis and then the silly argument with Arthur barely half an hour ago, his nerves were still frazzled and he just wanted to sleep. God was he tired.

_Any other day and I wouldn't mind, but tonight, I just don't want to deal with all these guys._

"What? Of course not! You're welcome over here any time Kiku, besides we weren't doing anything important, right Matthew? Arthur?" Alfred's eyes were seeking confirmation so to ease Kiku's worries.

"Eh? Ah, of course, brother's right Kiku you can come over any time, the more the merrier right?" Now both Alfred and Matthew were looking at Arthur, waiting for his response.

Sigh.

"Yeah, yeah, welcome to the party. So what are we doing first? Homework or a movie? I don't think I can do homework now though, my brain's dead, and I'm exhausted."

"Well, what do you wanna do Kiku?" Alfred stated flat-out.

"U-uh, oh. I don't really mind whatever is best, please don't mind me too much, anything you three decide will be wonderful."

_This is going to get us nowhere._

"It's decided then, movie it is!" Alfred emphasized this statement with a point to the sky, hero style, and an idiotic victory smile on his face.

_AGAIN! This guy, he didn't even ask Matthew. And since when does he decide what everyone wants? Even though I'm happy not to do homework maybe Kiku and Matthew would have wanted to, I could have just watched them. At least hung out while they do THEIR homework. Sheesh, come on Alfred, at least try to seem less self-centered!_

Alfred practically forced Kiku into the chair nearest the place he was sitting on the couch, immediately offered him some food and a beverage. To which Kiku responded "a glass of water would do just fine, thank you" went into the kitchen, poured the 'best' water from the refrigerator dispenser, delivered it to Kiku and then began to rummage around for a movie.

OOO

It was no surprise that it was an action movie, though Arthur was happy it wasn't a stupid horror flick, but again this was all Alfred's likes. No one was up to request anything else though, so they just sat and waited for the movie to be put in. Before Alfred could do that he felt they were lacking the essentials for watching a movie. So standing abruptly, and in a quick jerk movement whirled around, he demanded that Matthew make popcorn for everyone.

"Make it buttered, and put salt on it too, but not too much otherwise I get really thirsty, and not a LOT of butter, a good half amount would be ok, and maybe make two bags, so that there's enough for everyone. Got it?"

"Uh, ah, y-yes, ok, of course, would anyone else like anything while I'm up?"

Arthur got agitated.

_Does he not even possess a backbone? What's wrong with these brothers, one thinks he's Mr. World and the other his servant; I'm getting a headache. . ._

"Thank you for offering Matthew, but no, I am fine with just water, and I am not hungry so I do not need anything else" Kiku's refusal was as polite as possible and it was appreciated.

"Arthur?" Matthew was hoping he could at least do something for someone other than his brother.

"Huh, oh, well if it won't be too much I think I'll just grab a Snapple real quick, I know where it's at so don't bother, but I guess popcorn is nice, however you make it is good enough for me, I'm not picky."

"Right, popcorn coming up."

Knowing Arthur wanted some popcorn too made it seem like Matthew was doing more for everyone else and not just following orders. It was what Arthur was hoping seeing as even though he didn't want any really, it made Matthew seem more accepting of having been commended by Alfred to do anything.

So as Arthur went to grab his drink, Matthew prepared to make the popcorn and Alfred sat and talked with Kiku. Just idle, kill some time chit-chat, but Alfred was really into it, as if talking to Kiku at all was amazing. It was a curious thing, but Arthur didn't think about it for long, seeing as right when he got to the fridge and opened it up, as well as right when Matthew put the popcorn in the microwave, the doorbell rang.

There was a three-way "huh?" that came from Matthew, Alfred and Arthur, while Kiku gave a quick glance to the door and then back to Alfred, with an 'I'm guessing this wasn't planned' expression.

Alfred returned Kiku's expression with a shrug and the hand gesture that usually comes with it that said 'I have no clue'. Matthew was just about to head toward the door when Alfred stopped him with a

"No, no I got it, watch the popcorn otherwise it might burn, and nothing sucks more than burnt popcorn."

So Alfred moved to open the door, while Arthur had shifted his position to be able to see who would come over without even warning the people living there.

_No one called did they? I didn't see Matthew or Alfred get a text or their phone's ring aside from Kiku's call, and I think they would have said if someone else would stop by. Hmm, I wonder?_

Curiosity turned to shock and then into anger for Arthur as the door opened. Standing on the other side of the door, in casual nice looking jeans and a button up white shirt with the top three buttons undone was none other than Francis, with an expression that screamed,

_Yes, yes my lovelies I have arrived! Please, save your words of rejoice, I am but a humble man here to embrace your lives with my wonderful presence~_

Arthur nearly died and the only thing he could think was,

_WHAT THE FUCK!_

OOO

_Dammit, dammit, dammit! Why the hell won't he answer the damn door? What's that idiot doing, how dare he make me wait out here! This is serious, we gotta talk!_

Not only did Gil call multiple times before arriving at Antonio's house, but he had now been standing outside knocking for what seemed like forever. He even went to the window to see if he could see Antonio inside and catch his attention, if maybe he was SO consumed in whatever it was he might be doing that made him fail to notice the crazy knocking on his door.

But nothing. No sign of life whatsoever came from inside.

_What? Where the hell would he be? Wait a sec..._

"Gah! Why am I so stupid, of course he's not home! That bastard, he's practically been glued to Lovino Vargas ever since…since, forever!"

Having realized his mistake Gilbert stomped away in the direction of the Vargas house. Gil had been there a few times before already, he had gone with his younger brother Ludwig when he went to see his good friend Feliciano Vargas.

It didn't take a genius to realize there was a connection between Ludwig and Feliciano, but for some reason Gilbert was so involved with his own life he didn't care to notice what his family did. If people thought Lovino and Antonio were obvious than Feliciano and Ludwig were some bright neon sign that flashed their feelings like updates to the world. Just in case you cared to look, it was blinding, almost to the point where some would say they couldn't look at them. Feliciano is just so damn happy and cute when he's around Ludwig that it's like he produces positivity rays.

Tonight was no different. When Gil knocked on the door of the extremely nice house of the Vargas', Feliciano came bustling out with his ever so welcoming smile and immediately warned everyone that he was there.

"Hey, hey, everyone! We have another member to add to the party, look, look! It's Gil, hey Luddy why didn't you warn us your brother was coming, I would have made more food for him too?"

As Feliciano had been talking he ushered Gil into the house, closed the door and, in Gil's eyes, floated back into the other room. Where, by the end of his sentence he almost seemed to be pouting at Ludwig. As if to say he now felt bad he had to give up some of his own portion to accommodate for the new arrival, which he really didn't want to do. He loved his food too much to want to give up some and have less himself.

And the irritated look on Lovino's face said he didn't want to do it either. The second Gil turned the corner to see everyone at the table he was not only hit with a "why the fuck are you here?" look from Lovino, but an excited "heeey~" look from Antonio. Who was not even trying to hide his attempt at trying to be as close to Lovino as possible. While Lovino was trying his best to keep at least some distance, seeing as he still felt a little awkward when he was with his brother being with Antonio.

OOO

**The moment Lovino and Antonio finished their discussion about going public; they went and found Feliciano, who at the time was setting up his station for art club. Lovino didn't want to wait seeing that he knew something might happen and someone else could beat them to it. So it was important to find him first. Seeing as Feliciano was a diligent student he always showed up early to set-up his area, so there was some time before other students came, and Lovino wanted that time to see what Feliciano would do when he heard he was now 'officially' dating Antonio.**

**His reaction? Ecstatic! Feliciano was unbelievably supportive and semi-leapt into his brother's arms all the while beaming with excitement. Feliciano adored Antonio, and he loved his brother, and one thing he knew for as long as Lovino and Antonio knew each other, Lovino was a better (well, happier at least) person, he could see in his brother's eyes how much he cared for Antonio. So Feliciano cared for him too. **

But there was more as to why Feliciano was so happy for his brother. Not just for his happiness but for himself too, he needed to see that kind of new leap. His brother was always his example of how to be strong, and now, Lovino broke through the barrier Feliciano was afraid to break. The ability to openly admit he loved someone, and not just anyone, but Ludwig.

The difference though was that Antonio was extremely open about his feelings, so more people knew they were going out before they even confessed they were. They weren't exactly a well-kept secret. Ludwig on the other hand was almost like stone when it came to openly showing affection for Feliciano, and maybe that was Lovino's fault for constantly making him feel like he wasn't worth his little brother.

It was a lot of pressure living up to the older siblings standards, he was harsh. It was to be expected from a protective brother, but Ludwig felt nothing he did would better his chances at being 'good enough'. And every day he felt more and more pushed back, it was almost becoming too much work and sometimes he felt like giving up was the best decision.

And yet here Ludwig was sitting at the table with Feliciano, his brother and his brother's boyfriend talking about multiple things, mainly food, art, and the new relationship. Most of which came from Antonio and his uncontrollable need to constantly talk about Lovino, his "heart" his "life" and his "sun".

So when Gilbert showed up, it made the situation all that more uncomfortable, because the first thing he said was, "God damn you, Antonio you bastard! What do you think you're doing not answering your phone, why weren't you at home? Do you realize I've been walking around trying to find you for almost an hour? Huh! And here you are sipping wine and eating pasta with your boyfriend! Some friend you are, I guess what Francis said was true then, Lovino is more important to you than your own friends!"

Gil was highly upset; he had been worried ever since talking to Francis at the school, and when he failed to find Antonio at his house he was even more afraid that he was being left out. Why Gil found it so necessary to establish a pact with Antonio wouldn't have made sense to most people, but the desperation on his face rang clear to his brother and to Antonio, who now looked a little guilty that he turned his phone off earlier when he was alone with Lovino.

"Mi amigo I'm so sorry, I had no idea anyone would want to find me today, I thought you would be busy with Diebe, or at least that's what I heard from Francis."

_Francis! Francis! You ARE trying to cause friction, you selfish French bastard! Why? Sometimes I really don't know what you're doing, what ARE you doing?_

"Well he lied to you, I'm completely free and I have something extremely important to talk to you about…eh…um…could we talk in private maybe?"

Gil didn't think anyone in the room would go and tell anyone else what he would say, but he was embarrassed he even had to confirm his friendship with Antonio in the first place; he couldn't believe he was being made to feel so insecure, he was sick of it. He would kill that feeling now though when he finally told Antonio what he was thinking and feeling.

_This ends now!_

"Hmm, alright, I feel a little odd about it but I think we can talk in the other room, is that ok Feliciano? Dinner isn't going to be done soon is it?"

Antonio also thought about whether he should get Lovino's permission too, but he looked as though he was happy Antonio would get off him for a bit, and he really just didn't give a damn about what was happening. He was hungry so his mind just focused on that, once his belly was full though, he would be back to normal.

"Ve~? Of course, go ahead, no one's in there, and dinner won't be done for about another 20 minutes so you got time. Don't worry I'll interrupt you when it's done anyway~"

"Gracias, alright Gilbert let's talk."

The two moved into the Vargas's luxurious piano room with the walls covered in famous and incredible paintings, their grandfather was a proud collector and he even displayed some of the pieces drawn by Feliciano. He was extremely boastful when it came to his grandson's artistic talent and it was noticeable in every room of their house. Antonio took his position leaning against the piano, while Gilbert heavily sat on the couch near a book case.

"Ok, so what's this all about Gil? What's so important that you had to come find me here?" Antonio said with both worry over his friend's attitude and also with annoyance of having his evening with Lovino interrupted.

Gilbert breathed in.

"Why didn't you tell me you were going to go public with your relationship? Why did I have to hear from Francis? Why couldn't you tell me? Do you trust me as your friend? Did you think I wasn't supportive? What did I do to make you think that way?'' Gilbert took this chance to breathe out and inhale again, then continued, ''and I think Francis is up to something! I need to know that you and I will stay friends no matter what! I don't want to be put up against you if something happens, come on, out with it! Answer me Antonio!"

Antonio was speechless; to think his friend was feeling so many things, how long was he thinking these? What caused them? Wait a minute…what's he saying?

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, slow down Gil, what's this all about? What brought this on all of a sudden, I'll answer you but, amigo, this is a lot, and stop for a second, what about Francis? Oh geez, I think I might know what's going on here. Listen Gil I don't think you and I have the problem, I think something might be happening with-"

~Es qué te quiero uh oh, Baby te quiero uh oh uh oh, Desde qué te he conocido yo vivo tan feliz~

"Ah, hold on…oh, speak of the devil."

_Click_.

"Hola~ Francis…huh…what...why? Hey, don't go do something terrible now, I know how different your sense of fun is, try not to make anyone's night miserable alright?...hmm, well, we'll see what happens tomorrow, seeing as everyone's faces will reveal tonight's activities, be a good boy mi amigo, good night!"

"Well. What was that about? What's he doing?" Gil was even more suspicious, how could he not be after what Antonio just said.

"Huh? Oh, well, he's going over to Alfred's house, he heard they were having a movie party there or something, sounds like fun, so he wanted to go join them."

"Eh? Alfred's, why? I thought they hated each other, what's he thinking?"

"Oh…well the thing is…uhh, Arthur is over there…"

"_Try not to make anyone's night miserable…/ we'll see what happens tomorrow, seeing as everyone's faces will reveal tonight's activities."_ _Now I get what he was saying, well I'm just glad Francis is busy somewhere else, I don't need him coming here before I can get all my answers from Antonio. But goddamn that poor bastard Arthur, his day just doesn't seem to end does it._

"Well now that's out of the way, let's continue where we left off, spill it bud I want answers, otherwise I'll just make my own assumptions, and right now that won't do anyone any good."

Antonio could have almost taken that last statement as a threat, but he wasn't in a fighting mood, nor could he ever see Gil doing anything against him. All he took it as was Gil's defensiveness going out of control; it was usually something that happened when his security in his most trusted friends was threatened. And seeing as he was the one being confronted, it was their friendship being put to the test.

Since Gil said "and I think Francis is up to something" it meant that Francis was probably, actually up to something. What that was though Antonio had a pretty good idea, and he was a tad irritated Francis' game affected their own group, but he knew once he cleared it up with Gil, things would be good again. Antonio knew what Francis was truly after, and he was out there right now, trying to get it back.

-Sigh-_ Why do things always turn out this way, why can't mi amigo's learn to keep their problems out of their friendships, eh~ and here I am cleaning up everyone's messes, my life has become very complicated~_

"Aye, I'll answer, I'll answer, calm down, I've got all the answers. Let's start from the beginning, ok, and then we'll go from there."

Antonio knew this would take more than 20 minutes, so he knew after dinner; he wouldn't be able to spend any time tonight with Lovino, which he was alright with. Under any other circumstance nothing would have kept him from Lovino, but seeing as Gil needed him, his obligations sat with his friend, who right now was more important. Besides, there was always tomorrow.

"Hmph; fine, go."

X

A/N:

I do NOT own Hetalia nor did I create any of the characters that credit goes to Himaruya.

Seeing as this is a Hetalia story the characters introduced are as followed:

Feliciano Vargas – N. Italy  
Ludwig Beilschmidt - Germany

Antonio's ringtone is "Te Quiero" by DJ Flex ft. Belinda

Differentiation of speech, thought, flashback and action:  
Speech is anything in "parentheses"  
Thought is in _Italics_  
Action will be put in *asterisks*  
Flashback will be in **bold**

Should multiple characters be doing something different I shall give explanation. But, hopefully nothing will be too complicated.

Thanks for reading!


	5. Chapter 5

_Why? Why? WHY?! Why is it always me? Why is it always him? Why is there no escape?! Is my luck really this bloody awful that he had to follow me HERE to bother me? Huh? Did you, you wanker?! OF COURSE NOT! GO AWAY YOU BASTARD!_

All eyes were on Arthur moments after the door had revealed Francis on the other side. Alfred only took his eyes off Francis long enough to see Arthur descend into a pit of chaotic emotions before whirling his head back at Francis, no longer surprised, but defensive. Arthur had been his friend for far too long for him to allow Francis to come over to make a scene.

_Not in MY house you're not!_ Alfred glared at Francis.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

It was clear even when not with Arthur, Alfred had little to almost no positive feelings toward Francis, most of his negative feelings however did stem from how terrible Francis has treated his best friend. He always felt it was his duty to protect those he cared for, and these situations demanded he step in. But above all else; this was his damn house, and this was not the place for this!

"Oh~ what am I doing here you ask? Hmm~ well, I heard the Jones' household was having a movie party and I thought to myself 'that sounds delightful, I would simply LOVE to join them' and so I came over. Does that satisfy your question? Or do you want to know the real reason I'm here, hmm?"

It went more like; as he was heading home after his discussion with Gil he passed by Kiku who had just gotten done with the first student council meeting of the year. He asked him where he was going and got 'Ah, well. I was just invited to the Jones' residence. They're doing homework and watching a movie'. He just assumed that if Kiku was going then 'someone else' would be there too. So he ran home long enough to change his jeans, throw his school stuff around the house, and as he ran back popped-off, not unbuttoned, the top half of his shirt buttons, in his crazy attempt to remove the tie from around his neck.

From his own point of view he was a mess, he was embarrassed to look the way he did in front of Arthur. The only thing he could say looked nice was his jeans, and of course his hair, which was perfect as always even when slightly messy. If anything it made him look rugged and sexy, like he had just rolled out of bed from a nights worth of "playing" with someone exotic.

From an outsider's point of view however it looked as though Francis could have taken at least 20-30 minutes preparing that look. He looked too good for it to have just 'fallen into place'. If someone would have known that his shirt was now ruined and his hair messy due to running and undressing quickly, they'd probably laugh and say, "oh Francis you're too funny, as if you could go out in public looking a mess and not be freaking out! You're such a riot!"

OOO

At this point though Francis had already rushed head first into this chaos, there was no turning back now. How he looked was the last thing on his mind when he stood face-to-face with Alfred, and behind him, looking even more terrifying was his whole reason for not being frightened that he just might get punched in his beautiful face by the strongest guy in school! Now that he was here and staring down hero boy his thoughts remained, _Eye on the prize Francis. Eye on the prize!_

"May I come in? It's quite chilly here in the hallway," Francis inquired.

_What? Oh god no! Tell him to leave NOW Alfred, tell him to go away! _Arthur thoughts were racing, probably as fast as his heart was now.

"NO!"

The sudden outburst from Matthew startled everyone, they had all been watching dead silent from their positions as the scene at the door continued, now they stared amazed at Matthew. Unlike Alfred who had turned his attention to Francis only having given Arthur one quick glance, Matthew assessed everyone's reactions. Though he watched off and on the small eye battle between Alfred and Francis, he was more focused on Arthur's array of expressions.

From the time the door opened Arthur's face had displayed: shock, anger, confusion, anger again, and finally, to Matthew's surprise, deep sadness. In the whole three minutes that this had been happening Arthur's thoughts were going crazy, he had no idea what to do. He wanted to run away most of all, but not from Francis, but from everyone else. He didn't want to reveal anything about his relationship with Francis in front of everyone, and he felt that if this continued Francis and his bold ways would say something that would reveal too much at this time.

Besides, Arthur hated having Francis ruin everything; he was such a know-it-all for the gossip of everyone's lives. Arthur knew that best about Francis, it was one of his hobbies to go up to people and say 'Did you hear? What! No? Tsk tsk, shall I fill you in then?' though Arthur had some confidence that since this was Francis' life, he would have some restraint.

But seeing as he gave Alfred the challenge "or do you want to know the real reason I am here, hmm?" he thought otherwise.

_I better end this now before things start to really go downhill. _Arthur made a small sigh at the thought.

But Matthew continued where he left off, his concern was exactly where Arthur's was.

"I'm really sorry Francis, I know you came all the way here, and on another night we would be happy to have another guest, but well…erm…you see-"

"We have already finished watching the movie, therefore there is no longer any 'movie party' happening. Perhaps arriving earlier next time will guarantee you the night you were hoping for."

A night of shocks this was, not only had Matthew made an unexpected shout and continued to defend their night but now even Kiku was stepping in to help! A man who least desires confrontation was now showing his own support.

_What? Why's everyone defending me? Do they know about me and Francis? O-of course not, they couldn't…then; why?_

As if to say "don't worry" Matthew gave a soft, from the heart smile and Kiku gave a quick nod. And just like that Arthur felt lighter than air.

_These…these guys are-helping me? Because…because they're my friends…of course…of course they are! My…my friends…_

OOO

Alfred let out a heavy yet happy sigh from the doorway that half sounded like a laugh and like that he was no longer angry. Instead everyone else's reaction gave him the ability to try and give Francis the final shove off.

"That's right, we already watched the movie, maybe if you actually, oh you know, called to see when we were watching it, you wouldn't have missed it." He gave a smug smile.

Francis was a lone man in the middle of a dark ocean now. He hadn't expected everyone to gang up on him. First of all he figured Matthew would be kind and invite him in, they would then ask Kiku if he minded and he would give an "Oh, I do not mind, please join us" response and due to Alfred's crush on Kiku he would give in and abandon Arthur. These turn of events however had Francis trying to think of a way to leave with his pride in as much of its original state as possible.

"O-oh, I see…how unfortunate, it's just…I figured since you're making popcorn, as it's still popping in the microwave, and from here it looks like your DVD is still at the start screen, from what I can also see, there are some full glasses of beverages, and well, Arthur there is holding an unopened Snapple? So unless he's taking one for the road, I made it JUST in time for the movie."

Arthur could not help but think that whole deduction was very Sherlock Holmes-like, any other day he'd probably be impressed. But of course Francis would take in the scene. Seeing as everyone just seemed so desperate no one took into account their surroundings.

_We're trapped, _Matthew thought.

_I was careless, if only I had waited to put the movie in after the popcorn was made! I'm such an idiot._ And with that Alfred mentally smacked himself.

_Wasteful, I could have easily snuck quietly and quickly to grab the remote to turn the TV off at any point, but I did not think this situation would have occurred, foolishness._ Now even Kiku blamed himself for un-thought-of actions.

Everyone at some point COULD have done something to lead Francis off course but, now it was useless to think about. So now it was Arthur's turn to end this.

"Actually, they're all lying, the truth is they're going to watch the movie now and afterwards do homework. I on the other hand am exhausted, and I feel slightly sick from something I ate earlier, I think it was the school breakfast burrito, never eat those ok? I actually think I might die tonight from some kind of poisoning! Anyway, I'm going home."

OOO

There was no other option; honestly half of what Arthur said was the truth. He was tired, bloody exhausted to be accurate, and he did feel sick, though not physically, but emotionally, his heart was about to drop to his feet.

"Oh….uh well, may I walk you home then?" Francis asked innocently

All eyes on Arthur now, after a quick and shocked response from Matthew and Alfred and a curious eyebrow lift from Kiku.

"No thank you. And before you start looking crushed you fool I am saying no because it's late, and you live in the opposite direction! I'm grateful for the offer but don't put yourself out for my sake, sheesh."

Silence.

"Weeeellll~ alright. But, next time, I WILL walk you home, no matter what you say, that's a promise!" Francis said with very determined eyes.

"Urg, uh, fine, whatever, do what you want!" Arthur forced out as he went to grab his stuff.

As he walked past Matthew he got a whispered "sorry…" to which he just whispered back "no, I'm ok, thank you though" to which Matthew just gave a weak smile. As Arthur continued around the room he met eyes with Kiku who only gave a slight bow of the head. It took Arthur a second to register the action; he returned it with a nod, and a small tilted smile.

Having gathered all his stuff, including putting the Snapple in his bag, Arthur now had to do the hardest part, which was not getting past Francis; but walking past Alfred without looking guilty. It failed though, right as he was about to say goodbye and leave quickly, Alfred looked up with an expression that screamed, _Please forgive me…I failed to protect you… _

It made Arthur want to cry out, and he failed to hide his flinch from Alfred's hurt expression. It startled him, and he wanted to respond, _Please, please don't look like that! Alfred, you…you know I always need you to protect me, so please, go back to your hero act, I hate to see you sad!_

This unspoken scene between the two infuriated Francis, but he acted as put together as possible. He knew that deep in his heart, Arthur didn't love Alfred, not like Francis loved Arthur anyway, and he knew even before Arthur did that Alfred liked Kiku. So no matter what, there was, is and never will be anything between them. They had family bonds if anything, they were brothers.

"I'll see you all tomorrow, have fun tonight. Goodbye." Arthur gave a small wave as he left.

Alfred slowly closed the door behind him.

Francis watched as Arthur walked down the hall and out of sight down the stairs.

"See you tomorrow, mon amour… Goodnight," Francis whispered under his breath.

A deep expression in his eyes.

X

OOO

"Finally! We're here, pay up, it's time to get down to business," Gil said with a smirk.

"Ay…a…mmm," Antonio attempted some response. After what had happened earlier he was drained of all will to live.

Gil and Antonio had left the Vargas' household and they were sitting in Gil's living room. Ludwig left some time after them, because he actually stayed for dinner, unlike these two who bailed right after talking privately for a few minutes. Ludwig marched right past them into his room, and as far as they thought, he went to sleep. In reality they were so loud he was left with no choice but to listen to them.

The conversation at Feliciano and Lovino's house had been cut short as Antonio knew this particular talk would take more than the 20 minute time limit they had been given. So after the phone call from Francis and the "go" from Gil, Antonio decided to put the whole thing on hold. It was so that he could give as much time as possible to this situation. To go into it with little time may leave things unanswered, and right now that was the last thing anyone needed.

"**Ay, I'll answer, I'll answer, calm down, I've got all the answers. Let's start from the beginning, ok, and then we'll go from there." **

"**Hmph; fine, go."**

"**Wait! Wait! Are you sure you want to do this here? First, we don't have a lot of time, and second this might get hairy so we should probably take this conversation to one of our own houses mi amigo."**

"**Hmm, you're probably right, I asked to be somewhere private but with only…what, less than fifteen minutes to dinner, I can't wait that long! We can't stay! We'll go to my house and talk!"**

"**Eeehhh! NO, I wanted to spend more time with Lovino! And I already said I'd have dinner here, it would be rude to leave now before I eat, we'll continue in a bit."**

"**NO, no, no, no! if you stay for dinner you'll stay for dessert, if you stay for dessert you'll stay to relax, if you relax you'll get sleepy, if you get sleepy you'll stay here and sleep in Lovino's room, and if you stay here tonight you won't come until late tomorrow! I REFUSE to wait until then, so we'll leave NOW, I'll buy you some dinner. Besides, those guys won't care seeing as they want more for themselves anyway! So shut up and let's go."**

"**You're so rude! How can you exist in such a selfish world that revolves around you! It must be so stuffy in your head from all the ego occupying it! I refuse to be bullied by you. Lastly, why would I give up DELICIOUS homemade food for store bought crap from some convenient store on the way to your house, I would be CRAZY to pass this chance up! CRAZY I TELL YOU!"**

**Gilbert smiled wickedly.**

"**Alright, then I'll just go and tell Lovino some 'dirty little secrets' about you."**

"**W… W… What 'dirty little secrets!'' Antonio gasped. ''You wouldn't, GILBERT! N.. No, please, fine! Fine I'll…I'll,'' The Spainiard chocked a sob, ''I'll leave now…with…you" Antonio pretended to cry. "YOU MONSTER, I HATE YOU! Waaaaaaah."**

"**Yeah, yeah, whatever. Shut up and tell those kids we're leaving."**

"**NO, I refuse; you're being the bully, so YOU tell them! Go, GO!"**

**Gilbert grumped.**

**Antonio and Gil left the piano room and re-entered the dining room where Lovino, Feliciano and Ludwig were sitting at the table and looking like they were ready to eat. All three of them looked over to them when they entered, but before Feliciano, or Lovino who also wanted to chime in with a jab to Antonio, could say anything Gil abruptly cut them off with**

"**Dumb brother one, we're not staying to eat your dinner, so enjoy getting sick from eating Antonio and my share. Dumb brother two, I'm taking your boyfriend, whatever plans you had are hereby cancelled. If you have any complaints or comments leave them with Ludwig, he'll deliver them to me later, but if not, see you bastards tomorrow. Oh, Lud, don't stay over too late, we have important stuff to do tomorrow. Peace."**

"**What the fuck did you just say you bastard?!" Obviously Lovino would be angry.**

"**Wah, you're both not going to stay for dinner…well, oh well. More for us, right brother?" Obviously Feliciano wouldn't care.**

"**Hmm, alright" and obviously Ludwig doesn't care either.**

"**What! Well I guess, yeah…fine, see you tomorrow jerk…maybe" Romano directed the jab at Antonio.**

**So not only was Antonio hit with how rude Gil had addressed his beloved "Dumb brother two" but now he was being verbally abused with a 'maybe' from his boyfriend!**

"**W-why? Why must you be so cruel to me Lovi~ huh my love? I-it's not my fault! Gil is…kidnapping me!"**

**Gil and Lovino responded simultaneously, "Shut up!"**

"**Ah~ my life…how cruel…" Antonio whimpered.**

**Gil forcefully picked up whatever broken pieces of Antonio he could grab and stormed out of the Vargas house. Without stopping he marched right back home, like he had marched to Antonio's house not too long ago.**

OOO

"OK, come on, come on, come on, go! Go! Go!" For some reason Gil was excited to hear what was happening, unlike before where he was Mr. Serious and a little scared.

"Yeah, yeah, let's go. To start, I DO trust you Gil. You are one of two of my dearest and most precious friends, your opinion matters, just as much as Francis'.''

As for why I didn't tell you right away, it had nothing to do with me telling Francis first…to be honest; I thought I made it kind of…well, obvious. So when I decided to finally get the ok to go public with my relationship with Lovino I thought it wouldn't surprise anyone. It had nothing to do with me actually verbally saying anything to Francis over you.

Maybe I should have said something though, then maybe that would have kept this situation from happening…well on my part anyway, seeing as you are having issues with Francis. But we'll continue that after we cover our issue here."

Gilbert paused.

"From your silence Gil I'm guessing I can continue?"

Gil only nodded in agreement. _I'll wait until he's done to respond to him, I want to hear everything._

"Alright. Another thing you asked was, I think 'why did I have to hear from Francis' well, because you know as well as I do he likes to stir things up, he was toying with you. He would be absolutely delighted to hear this is how you reacted to that situation."

_Ugh. _Gil felt a bit irked by that one.

"As for your final statement concerning us was, let me quote, 'did you think I wasn't supportive? What did I do to make you think that way?' well, I think you can be pretty self-centered more often than not, but I know even more how little you care for other people's love affairs….especially seeing with your own complicated—uh, oh sorry, let's bypass that for now. Well anyway the point was it's not that I didn't think you were supportive, it's that I know what concerns you and what doesn't. This particular situation was one I knew you would care less about."

"Now Gilbert, on to more serious matters. It's one thing to question how things unfolded the way they did, but, you seem to be more suspicious of Francis than of me mi amigo, and honestly I believe you two have a bigger issue than you and I do. What did you mean by 'I need to know that you and I will stay friends no matter what! I don't want to be put up against you if something happens'? Because to me it sounds like things are so bad that a fight might break out. Or does this paranoia have anything to do with…Diebe?"

_Bingo, right on the head, of course he's gonna connect my issues with things happening with those guys…good grief, I don't want to say it out loud but….I think my personal issues with my other life are starting to affect my normal one…oh man, if that's the case…I might be the one at fault here…shit!_

With great difficulty Gil finally decided to finally respond.

OOO

"First I'd like to say, I'm glad we cleared the air here between us…though, now I'm feeling a little guilty…um…maybe I…uh, well…jumped to conclusions…but, how could I not? I don't know what's ever going on anymore…ok maybe some of that is my own fault for having other things to take up my time, but! How would I know some of this stuff unless someone told me? It's not ALL on me!"

"You're entirely right Gil, I couldn't agree more, but at least you realize you're at fault too. So far you made it seem like you were entirely blameless, so finally we can start to talk about Francis. As you may have gotten earlier from the call I got from Francis, and I heard you were with him when he walked in on Arthur's little scene with Erland, you know that within today alone Francis has gone to see Arthur twice, right?"

"Erm…well yeah, we did see that silly hallway fight with Er, and I heard your phone conversation, but what does that have to do with anything?"

He sighed heavily.

"Gil, Gil, Gil, how can you be so blind to other people's feelings? The whole reason you came over here was because you didn't notice anything between Lovi and I. You don't see what's happening with Francis and Arthur, even though we BOTH know what happened there, don't you remember what happened over summer? You're so blind that you don't even notice what's happening in your own family! Do you even know what's going on with your brother and Feliciano? Well, do you?"

Gilbert stared blankly.

"Eh?"

"SAINT TERESA! Are you serious? oh my god Gil…geez, well I'm not going to explain it all to you tonight, it'll take too long and we have school tomorrow, so instead I'll give you what you came here for, the answer to what's happening to Francis. I won't dance around it anymore; I'm going to be frank with you.

Francis still loves Arthur! Since summer Francis has been beating himself up over how he broke Arthur's heart and trust. He wants to make amends and be with him again! He loves him, he wants him back, but he knows Arthur's still hurting, so it's hard for Francis to look like a good guy, especially seeing as everyone around Arthur wants to protect him from Francis. It's making it hard for him to get close and apologize with all his heart. Francis is on a mission to retrieve what he foolishly threw away. He said he won't be stupid again and take advantage of that love he once had. He's dead serious about him now!"

_I-had no idea…how come I never connect anything when it comes to this stuff, my brother? Antonio? Even Francis! Am I so closed minded to this kind of thing…am I becoming dead towards feelings of love? Is that why I can't tell when I'm with my friends…my brother, my own flesh and blood! And yet here Antonio is fully aware of everything! That, that can't be…can it?_

"Gil?"

"Huh! Oh…sorry, just went into my head for a sec there…I…understand now…thank you Antonio, you took the time out of your night, even allowed me to kidnap you from your plans and even more, from your…well, Lovino, all to make me feel at ease. I don't know why I felt so paranoid, you're…one of my best friends, I should trust you, and from now on I will trust you, I have no reason not to. So, please forgive me."

"No, no, mi amigo it was nothing, I'm just glad to help, always know you can count on me! Any time, well, not ANY time, please leave me some time to be with my love, alright? Well, I think it's time I said goodnight to you, I'll see you tomorrow at school alright."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Wait, are you just gonna walk home all by yourself at this hour? I'd feel better if you just stayed over, you can use the couch in here if you want to?"

"No, no, I'll be fine, besides it's not that late, I can walk home with plenty of time for sleep for school tomorrow. It's a-ok so I'll say goodbye now, and leave you to your thoughts, we'll talk more about everything tomorrow, or another day possibly."

"Erm I just don't feel alright about it but, if you insist then…well, goodnight, and yeah, we'll talk later, see ya."

Antonio left Gilbert's house, as he walked home his mind was working through everything that had happened, his heart felt uneasy. Not just for Francis and his tough mission ahead, but for Gil, whose heart seemed to be closing itself from others ever so slowly.

There should be a limit to not noticing things, but Gil seemed to be completely immune to affection displayed by the people around him. Antonio walked with a heavy heart knowing the year ahead would be one of many mountains to overcome.

OOO

Antonio reached his home after walking quite a bit. Gil's house wasn't necessarily close to his, so right as he got through the door he started removing clothes. Shirt, shoes, pants, so that by the time he reached his bed, he was only in his boxers.

On an ordinary night he would've fallen asleep on impact, but not this night, he laid face down in his pillow, his thoughts only broken by the sound of his phone vibrating from inside his pants pocket. He rolled over and fell to the floor, crawling towards it. Sliding the screen to see who it was from, suddenly his worried thoughts and emotions disappear, wonderfully vanishing without a trace.

Display screen: one new message from Lovino Vargas

He clicked open and began reading.

Th-thump.

"Ci vediamo. Buonanotte. Ti amo, sogni d'oro."

Silence.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

_Clack_.

Display screen: 1 message sent!

"Gracias. Buenas Noches."

X

A/N: for some reason this was the best chapter to write! I loved it, even as I was writing it I was like "oh I love this" and "oh how sad" and I even laughed. . . I can tell I'm getting more and more into this, sorry it's late though, I had an exam and it freaked me out! College can be so scary sometimes, but thank you for your patience!

I do NOT own Hetalia nor did I create any of the characters that credit goes to Himaruya.

Italian phrase in the end:

Ci vediamo. Buonanotte. Ti amo, sogni d'oro – See you. Goodnight. I love you, sweet dreams.

Differentiation of speech, thought, flashback and action:  
Speech is anything in "parentheses", hopefully it's clear who's speaking  
Thought is in _Italics_  
Flashback will be in **bold**

Should multiple characters be doing something different I shall give explanation. But, hopefully nothing will be too complicated.

Thanks for reading!


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

**Yaawwnn**

*Bloody hell, I didn't sleep at all last night, I stayed up thinking about that damn Francis again… God dammit I hate this…*

It was already 12:14 pm Tuesday and Arthur had already had quite a day. Waking up was a b*tch, he tripped over his shoes on the way to the bathroom, the cow-lick in his hair refused to go away no matter how much he brushed it, he missed the bus, was late for his 2nd class of the day, as well as forgot to do the homework last night and in his rush out of the house forgot money for lunch.

*This one's for the record books ladies and gentlemen, only the second day of school and already I want to die.*

But what worried Arthur the most was that so far no one from last night came to see him. Not that he wanted them to come over and go, "Are you ok Arthur? I'm sorry about last night. That damn Francis, he can go to hell!" More like, he wanted to know what happened after he left. Did he ruin the party, did anyone feel bad? He wanted to clear things up so that no one had any other-than-happy feelings. He felt awkward about it.

*Where the devil is that damn Alfred? Usually about now I would have received 15 calls and texts and he would have run over to my house if I didn't answer…hmmm, maybe he got sick and stayed home? Oh no! I hope not, why? Why hasn't he tried to get in touch with me? Where is he?*

*…Why the bleeding hell do I care?*

"So stupid…Gah!"

In the middle of his pacing Arthur failed to notice someone standing near the doorway to the roof where Arthur had been for the last hour.

"What the hell are you doing, aru?"

Yao had stood there watching Arthur in his deep concentration for a good 15 minutes. He had originally intended to interrupt, but when he saw the troubling faces Arthur was making, he let him have his peace in hopes that his friend would discover what he needed internally. He himself felt troubled, some of the movements and looks Arthur made were ones that a good friend would ask about. He wanted to, he wanted to help Arthur, ask him, give him advice, and even hug him if he needed it. Which he felt odd about.

But Arthur was struggling deeply. So deeply it now made constant outwardly appearances for everyone to see. It's the reason why Arthur has been hiding by himself as often as possible from everyone. Hoping no one would see his turmoil and feel pity for him.

Yao recalled that at some point during the summer, Arthur just slowly disappeared from everyone. For a month into summer vacation, and months before that, he was really happy. So happy it freaked people out. But then all of a sudden, he was gone, like he died or something. Yao recalled the time he almost heard what happened to Arthur it was a week before school started, when he went to hang out with Alfred.

It was a simple question he asked, but he realized really fast it wasn't so simple…

_**Flashback:**_

"_**Oi, where's Arthur. Alfred? I haven't seen him in a long time, a month isn't normal, I mean we're friends too, you know!"**_

"_**It's none of your business Yao, Arthur is just not feeling up to hanging out with a ton of people all the time! Leave him alone and stop asking questions."**_

"_**W-what? What did you just say? None of my business! I care! I care a lot, that's why I'm asking! What do you mean he doesn't feel up to it? He usually loves hanging out with everyone, what's wrong? He was so happy. Tell me Alfred, I'm worried!"**_

_**Yao truly was, his eyes said things his mouth didn't, but his mouth wasn't far behind in voicing those feelings. Alfred knew everyone was concerned, you don't go years of knowing someone and just not care when all of a sudden you don't seem them in weeks! Of course everyone was going to call, ask, go see him; get turned away, ignored and told it was no big deal! But Alfred looked as he felt and thought. It was not his place to go telling others what had happened, it wasn't his life, it was Arthur's and he was hurting. What made people think they had any right to know?**_

"_**I- It's complicated…Yao, I know you care but…well, I don't feel it's my place to go around telling everyone about his problems…you know? He's my best friend…and well, I feel like telling you might be like betraying his trust, so sorry, I won't tell you."**_

"_**Ah! W-well, such honest words, I understand but-"**_

"_**KolKolKolKol, I'll tell you what happened~"**_

_****Th-thump****_

"_**I mean, for a price of course."**_

_****Th-thump** **_

"_**Yao." *Smile***_

_****Th-thump, Th-thump, Th-thump****_

_**"Argh, No!"**_

"_**Kolkolkolkolkol. Yao! You're so cute, your screams, they sound like wonderful noises of love, I knew one day you would return my undying affection! Kolkolkolkol."**_

"_**Go to hell you icy cold bastard! A-and I never loved you!''**_

_***In Ivan's head "Come to me your cuddly polar bear!"***_

"_**E-heh, *smile* I could listen to you forever when you talk like that."**_

"_**Are you listening to me! ARU! I said G-O A-W-A-Y!''**_

"_**But I thought you wanted to know what happened to your dear friend Arthur? I'm a "good" friend of Gilbert Beilschmidt and he knows **_**all**_** about it, I mean, being one of Francis' **_**best**_** friends and all, and you know, being Arthur's-"**_

_**Ivan's sentence was cut short when all of a sudden Alfred had gotten up, ran at Ivan and punched him in the face**_.

"_**Shut the hell up! It's none of your goddamn business!"**_

"_**Alfred! Oh my gosh! What have you done?"**_

_**Yao was stunned, he had never seen anyone hit another person before, and he thought everyone was too scared to hit a gang boss, I mean, Ivan was one of the leaders of one of three infamous gangs in this town. But Alfred didn't even hesitate, flinch or question himself, he just punched him without caring or fear. Was he crazy? **_

_**No, it all flooded in in seconds, from shock, to concern for Ivan (though later he asked himself why he cared at all!)and then admiration, back to extreme worry. Shock for the punch, worry for Ivan because his nose was bleeding profusely, admiration for Alfred and his loyalty to his friend Arthur, and then intense worry for Arthur. What had happened to him that made Alfred act like this? Act so intense and rash that he would hit another person for talking about it? Was this reaction really something just a friend would do? Yao now questioned what was all this really about.**_

"_**I-Ivan, are you alright? Alfred hit you pretty hard…your nose is bleeding."**_

_**Yao moved closer in attempt to help Ivan off the ground, but when he saw Ivan's face he stopped. Terror pulsed through his entire body at the look Ivan was giving Alfred. If looks could kill, then Alfred should have dropped dead right then and there.**_

"_**Kolkolkol, you have some nerve Alfred Jones, oh yes indeed you do, e-heh, no one with a brain would dare do something like this to me…I guess what they say about you being nothing but brawn is true, you're an idiot."**_

"_**P-please Ivan, let's stop this, I don't want a bigger fight between you two, you got hit pretty hard, and Alfred won't stop next time if you keep pushing him. So leave this be for now, l-let me walk you to a hospital to get your nose checked, please Ivan…please?"**_

_**The last thing Yao wanted was a fight he couldn't stop, between Alfred and his strength and Ivan and his psychotic ways, he knew it just might end with someone in the hospital with serious damage. Yao knew the only way he was going to get Ivan to leave without trying to get his own hit into Alfred was if he begged him with his sweetest face and voice.**_

_**He had tried to deny and ignore the fact that he knew Ivan had a crush on him, but when it came down to it, in these situations he felt using it to his advantage was his best bet. As much as he didn't want to lead Ivan on, sometimes it was his cuteness that made Ivan stop, he felt bad, but at the same time he felt powerful. He was the only one who could make Ivan, the most terrifying of the gang bosses, stop, listen, and even obey him, with nothing more than a simple "please".**_

_***Ivan, under his breath* "Tch, chert voz'mi."**_

_**Yao watched as Ivan got up, took a few steps toward him, and stopped within arm's length of where he stood, lifted his hand and gently and lovingly placed it on Yao's cheek. **_

"_**I'll let this go for now, but know this; I am only doing it because I care about you so, so much…Yao."**_

_****Th-Thump****_

"_**Uh…y-yeah…sure..."**_

_****Th-Thump****_

_**Ivan's touch left Yao frozen in place; he barely can recall what happened after that touch and when he came back to reality a few minutes later when he left with Ivan. But from what he can remember, Ivan spoke to Alfred, he told him he was going to turn his back on this incident, and that he should be grateful for having such a good friend as Yao.**_

_**He recalled that Alfred said something like "whatever" and asked Yao if he was going to be okay leaving with Ivan. Yao gave a heavy and stiff nod in assurance, and then watched as Alfred stormed off, in a direction that showed he was not going home, in fact, Yao knew where Alfred would be tonight, and home was the last place anyone would find him.**_

_**He came back to reality when Ivan said, "Are we going?"**_

"_**Ah, y-yea of course, sorry."**_

_**They had walked in silence for barely two minutes before Yao broke the silence.**_

"_**Is your nose broken?"**_

"_**No, as you can see it's not bleeding anymore, it'll be fine when I put some ice on it, and a few Tylenol should help with the pain later. Why, are you worried?"**_

"_**Of course I am! When he hit you I was so shocked, and then all the blood! What would've happened if he did break it? Then would I have been able to stop you?"**_

_****Silence****_

_**What happened next threw Yao for a loop**_

"_**Let's change the subject Yao; do you want to know what happened with Arthur? You seem to really care about him, and I care about you more than anyone else, and you seem to be sick with worry over him, if by telling you I might be able to help calm your worry then…I want to tell you, do you still want to hear?"**_

_**The immediate answer Yao wanted to give was "Yes! Talk!" but instead he remembered what Alfred had said earlier about rights and it being Arthur's life and problem, but Yao wasn't so heroic like Alfred was, and he knew in his case talking to Arthur was more his field of friendship. Alfred was the kind of guy to protect his friends and carry their burdens like his own, but Yao wasn't, and in this case he would be no different…**_

"_**Um…well, yes I do still want to know…uh…"**_

"_**You sound wary about it, are you sure? Or are you second guessing because of that idiot Jones? Ignore him, you be the friend you are and he can be the friend he is…which from what I've seen, Jones is doing a pretty shitty job, Arthur is still suffering after all this time, I think someone with more care and kindness needs to step in and help now…I think you are that person Yao…"**_

"_**You think so? I agree with you that Alfred and I have different ways of dealing with our friends pain but…I don't want to intrude on Arthur if what he wants is time to himself…maybe Alfred knows that better than anyone and that's why he acts like that…what if I make Arthur mad by butting my nose where it doesn't belong…maybe that's why he hasn't talked to me about it all this time…"**_

"_**You're a tad frustrating with all these excuses, either decide not to butt in and wait for him to come to you, or break into his isolation and force him to confide in your friendship, those are your only options, stay silent or act, take your pick lyubov' .**_**"**

"_**W-well when you say it like that then…I would rather be a friend who's understanding and can help him with advise, rather than watch him suffer all alone…so I guess I choose to know…which means I guess I'm saying, will you tell me what happened? Ivan."**_

"_**Konechno." *Smile***_

_**Right as Ivan was about to start talking to Yao about Arthur a pipe came flying from some direction and hit Ivan right in the back; he fell to his hands and knees and appeared to be in a lot of pain, which was no surprise for obvious reasons.**_

"_**W-w-what? What's happening, aru!"**_

"_**Kesesese, take that you bastard! How dare you come walking right into my territory with your little boyfriend! Date or not I won't go easy on you! It's time I kicked your ass and took over your territory once and for all!''**_

_***G-Gilbert Beilschmidt what's he doing here? T-territory? Oh gosh no! We walked right into Gilbert's gang territory! Why, why is this all happening when I'm around, aru! I want to go home now, why did I even walk out of my house today!''**_

_**Any other time or day Ivan would have gotten up, turned around, picked up the pipe that he had been hit with and beat the hell right out of Gil. Ivan was shaking to do it, he knew if he didn't he would never live it down; he felt it in his bones to kill Gil this time.**_

_**Not today though. Ivan took one look at Yao and saw this wasn't the kind of scene he was used to, nor would he ever be used to it, he was panicking, afraid. Ivan felt terrible mostly because this was his lifestyle, and it scared the person he cared most about. He loved Yao, but could never truly say it out loud to him in a serious manner, because he knew he would either have to introduce him to this life, or give it up. And he could not, nor wanted to do either one, and it hurt him.**_

"_**Not today Beilschmidt, I'm in no mood to deal with you Gilbert. As you can see I have company, so I'll just be going this way and you can stay right there and pick a fight with someone else…oh and come after me and I'll put a curse on you and your family~ One that will be passed down to your kids and every generation after!"**_

"_**What! How dare you! Leave, you think I'll just let you leave? Kesesese, that's hilarious! You think you can just walk into my area and not pay for it Ivan? And you think you can even threaten me with a curse and I won't do anything! HA HA HA, you're a riot! So funny! I think I might die!"**_

"_**Tch, chert voz'mi, how am I going to get out of here without a fight? What to do…"**_

_**Ivan thought, *No, I won't…can't avoid this fight…I know, that's perfect, that's all I need to do anyway.***_

"_**Gilbert. I'll stay, and fight you on one condition…give Yao a few minutes to get out of here and then I'll give you the beating of a lifetime."**_

"_**W-what! I-Ivan, what are you saying? I thought we were going to go check on your nose! Now you're going right into a fight with Gil? I won't! I refuse to leave you! You can't make me either! Forget it, aru!"**_

_**Yao's answer annoyed Ivan, but way less than it impressed him, he loved seeing the stubborn side of Yao and how concerned he was for his injury, and it proved that Yao cared. What was annoying was that now wasn't the time for it, he was trying to give Yao a chance to get out of getting into a fight, but he was refusing it, and it was frustrating. Yao could be so damn frustrating, and it was just too damn cute!**_

"_**Please Yao…you shouldn't hang around and get into any trouble because your with me, what if you get hurt in this fight? It's not any of your concern, don't be so stubborn! I'll see you at school tomorrow completely without harm alright? I promise, now please go home."**_

"_**No! I made a personal promise to get you to a hospital and I am going to keep it! So shut up and let's run!"**_

"_**Run...?"**_

"_**Kesesese, it only gets funnier! So not only do the love birds have a verbal match but now the girlfriends asking Ivan to run away from a fight! Oh my god this is the most hysterical thing I have ever seen! Run away! Ivan? **Gil drops down and starts rolling on the ground in hysterical laughter**"**_

"_**Yao, I refuse to run. That god damn bastard is laughing at me. I'd rather die than run."**_

"_**Are you stupid aru? Die, huh? So you'd rather die than run away with me! Why are you such a Neanderthal? Is fighting more important than how I feel? You're a jerk! Why did I even care about you to even want to get you help? Forget it, Ivan! Way to blow it, and here I was even beginning to see something in you! Well now all I see is a fool for fighting! Hope you get the blood bath you want so badly, I'm going home! And I will not see you at school; I'll be doing my best to avoid you from now on! Goodbye."**_

_**Yao stormed off in a rage (again, Yao later tried to figure out why he was so mad, and why he said "Starting to see things in you" it worried him)and all Ivan did was watch as he left, feeling both heartbroken and relieved. **_

_**Gil on the other hand had stopped laughing and got up off the ground. He felt a little bad now for how he reacted when he saw a glint in Ivan's eye that signaled he really cared about Yao. And yet Gil had managed to help end whatever was between them. Gil got over it quickly though; as if it was his problem when other people messed things up, Ivan shouldn't even dare to think about a relationship! He was in a gang for crying out loud, if anything he did both of them a favor and end it before it got crazy for poor Yao, he wasn't built emotionally to be a part of this world, nor was he ready to love someone who also loved this world. It was better this way.**_

_***Ivan under his breath* "Goodbye Yao…"**_

_**Ivan turned and picked up the pipe he had been hit with and turned to face Gilbert, his eyes beamed with the ever so familiar hate he always showed and took a step forward toward another fight that would end the same way it always did. But this time rather than have a heart heavy with excitement for blood shed, it was heavy with sadness. **_

_**Even though Ivan said goodbye, it was not the kind that meant long term, he realized with that goodbye that he was in serious trouble and moved with conviction to gain Yao back at any cost, even if it meant ending this wars as violently as possible…**_

_**End of flashback.**_

"Bloody hell Yao! What the hell are you doing standing there? How long have you been there?"

"Huh, oh, not long, just long enough to hear you call yourself stupid a number of times…"

Arthur was relieved to hear Yao hadn't been there long. Yao on the other had felt awkward that he had to lie, but was happy when he saw how relieved Arthur was.

"Uh, so Yao did you have something you wanted to say to me? What's up?"

Now was his chance, Yao knew what Ivan said then was true, he either had to act or sit and wait, and after a long time of thinking about it, he decided it was time to act. He needed to take the steps and ask Arthur himself. Just what in the hell was happening with him that made everyone else start acting so weird? What happened over the summer between him and Francis?

*It's now or never Yao, let's do this.*

"Um…Yao? Is something the matt-"

"Arthur, I know this might come off as strong, and it might not be any of my business but…I have to ask, I need to ask…um…well…uh, w-what, what happened over the summer?…I, I mean between you and Francis? What did he do to you? How did he hurt you? I'm worried about you, and I'm worried about how…others, are acting because of what they know…like I said it's not my business but…I…I'm here for you and I want to help! So please…let me help you if I can…"

Arthur has planned countless situations when one of his friends finally asked him about, IT, but no one had even come to him other than Alfred, and planning it and it actually happening are two different things. He was prepared but at the same time Yao completely shocked him, he felt caught off guard. Arthur tried to collect his thoughts on how he would approach this situation until finally he came back with this.

"Thank you Yao. For caring I mean, it means a lot to know how worried you are, and I'm sorry I have worried you, please forgive me for that…I've been acting pretty strange lately and I know that…and you're right, I think you can help me, even if it's just by listening to me make a fool out of myself…we can talk…in fact I want to talk to someone about it, well at least with someone who will have more to say. Unlike Alfred and his "everything Arthur says is right and no one else's opinions or thoughts matter." mindset, heh… how about you come over to my place after school today and we can talk then? I'd really enjoy that."

Yao couldn't believe how cooperative Arthur was being, but then again he had been acting unusual for so long now things shouldn't really be shocking anymore. So Yao accepted it for what it was and agreed.

"Alright, after school then."

"After school."

* * *

**A/N**: OH MY GOSH! I am so, so, so, sorry for taking FOREVER to write a new chapter *does a deep on the floor bow* the last month of school is always super super crazy and hectic and blah! So I totally failed to keep up with writing anything -_- and I apologize, but now I am on vacation and I plan to stick to it. So I hope you enjoyed the new chapter, which totally focused on Yao and Ivan :D Though I feel this chapter didn't go like I wanted it to, but the whole punch thing with Alfred was interesting to write, thought I took a big leap in that, I can actually imagine America hitting someone if angry enough, I mean he is American after all! And we do tend to hit people when pissed off. XD

I do NOT own Hetalia nor did I create any of the characters, this is all fan created material, so please don't hate me. ^ ^

I kept a portion of my goal, introduce more Ivan/Russia, he's complicated to write about. :/ Sorry Russia fans but I don't particularly like him a whole lot, maybe it's due to the fact that he kinda scares me and I can't connect to him, especially seeing as he is totally opposite to my lovely happy-go-lucky Spain, but I will try not to make him seem completely boring or evil or overly romantic…I might have failed in this chapter buuuuut~ meh, I'll just do my best.

Translations:

Russian:

chert voz'mi - damn it

Lyubov' - love

Konechno - Of course

(Wow I failed at adding in cool words for you guys this time :/ I'll do better next time…)

And finally:

NOTE: Please tell me if you catch spelling mistakes, grammar mistakes, etc. I will re-read all of the chapters multiple times before submitting it, but just in case one sneaks by me, I will be ever so grateful to have them pointed out, nothing makes me angrier than a typo (other problems), and I'll be embarrassed, but the sooner they're found the quicker I can correct them. Thank you! :)


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

**Sigh**

*I have a bad feeling about this...it's feels unawesome...*

For some crazy ass reason Gilbert found himself standing outside of Alfred's doorway. He knew instinctively that this was a bad idea. He couldn't decide if it was his natural personality that caused such a conflict with Alfred, or if it had more to do with him being friends with Francis…he was betting on his friendship, but it didn't help these two were almost similar enough to be opposing magnets. The same, but they repel each other.

*Why the hell am I here? What did I come here for? Think Gil think! Oh, right…*

He came because he was asked to get something from Mathew by Francis (who obviously couldn't come himself) but Gil wanted to know why the hell he had to do it? Why couldn't he ask Antonio? Everyone liked Antonio! (wrong again, Alfred pretty much loves only himself with the exception of Arthur and Kiku) at least if it was Antonio he could just talk to Mathew, get what Francis wanted and then leave without any confrontation. But noooo, here he was, at the gates of hell, waiting for the devil's brother to hand him a packet from the class Francis decided to ditch today.

*F*ck Francis! Next time he'll come himself, I will _never_ do him another favor again! I'm too awesome and busy to do another man's errands!*

"I just got to work up the guts and awesomely knoc-"

**WHACK**

Right as Gil reached his hand out to knock on Alfred's door it came flying open, hit him square in the face, and he went crashing backward into the hallway.

"_Oh my gosh_! Oh my gosh! Are you alright? I'm so, so sorry! Please forgive me; I didn't think any one was standing out here! Are you alright? Um…excuse me?"

Gil's rage meter = 100 max

"_I'll awesomely kill you_!"

"Kya! N-no, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, so so, so, so, so, so, so, so _sorry_!"

Mathew was practically melting into the wall with fear. He'd heard threats before, though never directed straight at him, and even if he did, no one had ever said they'd _kill him_! If he had hit anyone else they'd have just said it was their fault for standing in the doorway. But this was Gilbert, he wasn't just "anyone else" he was a king (in his own world) and above all else in Mathew's mind, he was really, really scary!

"You hit me you bastard! What the hell? Who unawesomely just swings a door open like that! Huh? Huh?"

"U-u-uh, Y-You're right, I'm sorry, I should always check from now on if there's someone on the other side of the door…through the peep…hole…eh?"

It was only mid-sentence that Mathew finally got the guts to look up, and when he finally did he saw that Gil's nose was bleeding.

"What? What is it? Why'd you go eh?"

"AHHH!"

Mathews sudden screaming actually managed to scare Gil a little, he was shocked that all of a sudden this little mousy guy would start yelling hysterically for no reason. Well it wasn't for any reason, Gil knew his nose was bleeding, he was just trying to wipe away the blood with a napkin he had in his pocket but apparently this sudden sight of blood freaked Mathew out.

In reality Mathew screamed because he was terrified at what Gil was going to do to him now that he had made him bleed. He was now envisioning some crazy scenario where Gil said "_nobody_ makes _me bleed_ my _own blood_!" and then proceeds to torture Mathew in any demented fashion as Gil saw fit.

Instead the situation just unfolded with Gil, being confused, Mathew panicking, then himself being confused as to why Gil was confused, and finally after a few minutes of just staring at each other Gil asked if he could come in (if Alfred wasn't there of course).

Mathew said Alfred was out for the day for some kind of sport thing? Shopping? Or a friend thing? (Come to think of it he doesn't remember what Alfred said) so Gil could come in. Mathew got Gil a tissue and an ice pack for his nose and then just sat at his dining room table waiting for Gil to speak.

"…What?"

"W-what! Is the ice pack not cold enough? Do you need another tissue? Ah! Silly me, of course you'd need more tissues…I'll go get more."

"No, that's not what I meant; I guess I was just asking why are you just staring at me? Aren't you going to ask why this awesomeness is here? What do my awesomeness want? Don't just sit there looking unawesomely dazed!"

"Eh? Oh! Right…why are you here?"

Mathew was still just a little in awe of having someone like Gilbert in his house. Antonio had been over, Francis had too, but never Gil, and he was now wondering just why that was…

*Hmmm…why has Gil never been over before…maybe he doesn't like my brother, that wouldn't be surprising…not a lot of people do…*

"I came over here because Francis asked me to get the assignment from his Art class that he missed today; he said he called in advance to let you get in prepared for me."

''Huh? Oh, right, hold on, I'll go get it."

Mathew didn't even leave Gils sight, his backpack was on the table still from when he got home, apparently he had not been home for long, and now that Gil assessed everything around him, especially the other boy he was with, he was still in his school uniform, and he didn't even have time to change. So why was he leaving his house so soon? Where was he going in his school uniform? If he was going to see a friend he would change…maybe there was an emergency? But then why would he forget about it to talk with him? If it was urgent he would have said something like "sorry, something happened, could you come back later!" or something…huh.

"Uh, not to be intrusive or anything but, were you going somewhere before I got hit with the door? You're still in your uniform, so if it was important, I could come back later."

While Gil had been analyzing everything and thinking Mathew had already gotten everything for Francis out of his backpack, and was making sure everything was there, he didn't want to have Gil of Francis have to come back because he left something out. Finally, after deciding everything was perfect he had turned to face Gil when he was asked about where he was going.

"Hm? Right, no, that was nothing, I had just forgot to grab the mail before coming upstairs so I was going to go grab it, ha-ha, yeah, silly me, my brother hates having to get it, so I try not to forget."

"What are you the slave or something? If I can do something I never make my brother do it in my place, that's just unawesome laziness, nothing good comes from being lazy, and definitely being unawesome! Tell him to get it himself it's that damn important!"

"No, no, I could never, he's my brother, it's no big deal, besides, I like doing things, it's how I feel usef- ah, ha-ha, sorry, you don't want to hear about this, here, here's the homework for Francis, if he's feeling sick I hope he gets better, tell him to drink lots of liquids, and get a lot of sleep, I hope my notes will be good enough, if not I apologize, thank you for coming to get them."

*What a sad guy, how he feels useful? Does he not feel useful very much, so even the most trivial tasks make him feel important and necessary? Wow, that's even more unawesomely depressing, must be tough being the brother of Mr. hero, tough and outgoing, makes a lot of enemies, must be hard to stand out against someone who steals all the attention…he must feel invisible!*

"Ah…not that I _care_ or anything, I mean, your problems are all stupid and stuff, but thanks to your lucky day you were blessed with this opportunity to meet the awesome me! Yes, that's right, meeting me is the best thing to happen to you, you know why? I feel bad for you."

"Eh?"

"Wait, that sounds wrong…I pity you? No, you're pathetic! No. Hm…I know! I'm sympathetic to your issues of invisibility and am about to offer you my time in something I'm calling the "Stand Out" project!"

*Awesome name Gil, I'm such a genius!*

''That's right, I'm the most awesome person, and can thereby help you become awesome too! So by joining my Stand Out project you can learn to be as awesome as me! Aren't you just feeling it already! The feeling of being less invisible and more like a mega shining star! Shine on tiny star! Let's make you a super nova!"

"EH?"

"First lesson, no more "ehs" it makes you sounds lost or confused. It also sounds unawesome!"

"B-but I _am_ confused, stand out project? Star? Super nova! I don't feel invisible…at least, not all the time…a-and I'm very happy the way I am! So…so thank you, but no thank you."

"No. that's not acceptable! "At least not all the time" is not an acceptable response, this is what I've decided, I'm going to help you become more confident, and in exchange you can….you can….ah! Tutor me in math, right, two days into the new year and already I have an F, probably should've done the first assignment, eh? Kesesesese, oh well."

"Um, I'm not really sure how to think about all this…it's all very sudden, you just came over to get Francis' assignment, now all of a sudden we're in some kind of weird pact…I'm dizzy."

"It's all good! In fact, this'll work out just fine, I need something awesome to do to keep my mind off some crazy stuff happening with my friends and their issues, and then there's my brother…boy don't even get me started on all the relationship drama everyone is going through, I wish more people were like me when it comes to that stuff, who needs others! When you're as awesome as me all you need is yourself! Why depend on someone else to make things better, or good or happy! Bah! I'm awesome, awesomer than ever, and all I've got is my awesome self, that's all there needs to be!"

*Oh…sounds really lonely, so this is Gilbert Beilschmidt, huh? I can't help but feel kind of bad for him too, I guess we're both just…kind of lonely…maybe this "project" won't be so bad after all…maybe, we can be, friends…heh, that would be really nice actually…*

"Ok, I'll, I'll go along with this, you can teach me to be, confident, and in exchange, I'll tutor you in math, it's a deal than?"

"Sure, yeah, at my house, you have to tutor me at my house for obvious reasons, I don't think I can be over here when your brother's home…you know, if that's alright with you, and your lessons will happen whenever the two of us have free time, wherever, school opportunities or after school opportunities, confidence is all about testing it in different settings, with different people, and you have to set a goal! How confident do you want to be? Confident enough to stand up to your unawesome brother?"

"Ah…I think that's a little too high…maybe, maybe confident enough…confidence to do…ah, I don't know."

"Jeez, you really do need this, oh come on, there's always something people want to do but are too afraid to do, what is it, what is it you want to do? That one thing you're too chicken to do?"

"W-well…don't laugh at me for this, but, but I do…uhm, I do really want to be able to…err…I want to, confess…I want to be able to confess to someone…that I l-like them…"

"Kesesesese! Seriously! That's what you want to be able to do? That's so simple! But whatever, so who is it you want to confess to?"

"No one as of now…it's just, a "one day" kind of thing…you know, for when I do feel something, I don't want to be a coward or…chicken out!"

"Geldstrafe, it's settled than, nice doing awesome business with you Mathew, I'll be seeing you tomorrow!"

And with that, Gil shook Mathews hand to seal the deal, he then took the homework for Francis and left. Gil felt very assured he could make Mathew more confident therefore making him less invisible, he felt bad for the kid, he wanted to make him strong enough to have a backbone against his brother, but what Gil didn't realize is that this pact would change his world dramatically, setting the stage for a very shock filled year of new emotions and events, just waiting to unfold.

As for Mathew, he was concerned with what he was doing, but happy at the idea that he could spend time with someone as cool as Gil, maybe his project really would make Mathew more confident, and even if not, maybe he could make a new friend, someone he could learn from about things he would never experience in his quite slow paced way of living…the idea was exciting, not even knowing just how exciting things were going to get.

* * *

Somehow by the pure stroke of coincidence football practice was cancelled today, so there was nothing to keep Yao and Arthur from going home to talk about the summer and about Francis. Nothing to distract them from getting down to what was going on between them and why Arthur changed so much because of it. Nope, nothing at all, no one calling to pull Yao away, no one showing up suddenly to bother Arthur, nada, not a thing…

*Bloody hell! I thought I was ready for this, this morning I was finally feeling prepared to go into this when Yao asked me, but now that we're on our way back to my place I'm so nervous, what if after telling him everything he thinks I'm stupid and that he worried over nothing, what if he thinks all this was a waste of his time and that he should have never asked me? What if he thinks I've been acting like a baby and I should just get over it…uhhgg, I don't want to do this anymore, can't anything or anyone come and interrupt! I'm losing it…*

"Arthur? What's wrong, your face is giving off a lot of emotions; do you not want to do this anymore? I want to say that if you don't want to do this it's fine, but I feel it would do you a lot of good if you did, just to get it off your chest, maybe by telling someone new and getting more opinions you can get the advice you need."

"Uh, yeah, you're right…it's just that, well I'm just a tad worried about what you'll think of me when I do tell you all this. I mean, we are friends and all, it's just that, I haven't known you as long as I've known Alfred, I'm just afraid that, unlike him, who accepts me for pretty much everything, others will act differently, that they might…judge me harshly, or not want to be friends with me, because maybe they'll think I'm being too dramatic and stupid…that's all."

"That is stupid! I would never do that to someone, you're right I haven't known you as long but, I care about you as much, you're my friend, and anyone who calls themselves somebody's friend, they should accept them for everything, understand them, help them and not judge them, friends don't let other friends suffer, they don't laugh at their friends problems and they lend their ears to all of their friends "trivial" and "crazy" problems! So be dramatic, I won't ever hate you or leave you because of it…I promise."

"Heh thanks…"

*Damn, he really is over-concerning, he's like a mother hen…he's the opposite of Alfred, whenever I tell him I don't want to talk about it, or for him to go away, he does, he drops it and we don't talk about it until the next time he tries to bring it up, or until I feel like talking about it, which is never, but…I do feel happy, happy that I do have good friends who care about me so much…even Alfred, he gets so misunderstood for not caring, but that's not it, it's just that…he cares too much…enough to…to understand when something is too painful for me to talk about…aw jeez, now I feel bad, I look like the unwilling friend…I really AM bloody dramatic!*

As Yao and Arthur walked neither of them noticed that someone had started to follow them. Luckily this person isn't physically dangerous, but he isn't innocent either…let's just say you wouldn't want him to catch you doing anything you don't want others to know, seeing as he's "the gossip monger" of Hetalia High. Whatever it is it would definitely be all over the place before morning, twisted into so many versions even you'd be surprised.

Yes, somehow seeing Yao and Arthur walk home together caught the attention of Feliks Lukasiewicz, HHS' biggest lover of juicy news and made up BS. This was the exact type of thing that Feliks could use in the future…

*Like, wow, are Yoa and Arthur an item? I totally thought Arthur and Francis were in a sticky situation, and, not to mention, let's not leave out dear Ivan who's only got like the biggest crush on Yao…I wonder where they're going? Heehee, I wonder how long Yao will stay…Oh my! C-could this be! It has to be! OO. AM. GEE! I totally gotta tell Toris about this, like, later! After I follow these guys home of course and get the deets~*

And Feliks did indeed follow them home, he watched as Yao entered Arthur's house, and as Arthur closed the door behind them. He snuck up to look in through the side window and watched as Yao removed his coat and hung it by the door, followed by Arthur leaving the room only for a while to place his backpack in his room. He watched as Arthur returned, mouthed the words "Do you want something to drink? A snack maybe?" to which Yao replied with a "No thank you" and then saw as the air around Arthur plummeted as he slumped down on the couch, like all of a sudden a black cloud started forming around him and pushed him down.

*T-totally scary! Like, what's up with that?*

The expression on Yao's face said he was thinking something similar to Feliks, but it didn't last long because all of a sudden Yao's face went to utter concern, and a tad bit curious…what was Arthur going to say?

**You make me~ feel like I'm living in a teenage dream~ the way you turn me on, I can't sleep~ so let's run away and don't ever look back, don't ever look back~**

"Oh my gosh! Shhhh, crap!"

Right as it looked like things were going to get good, Feliks' phone rang, he had completely forgotten to turn it on vibrate when he decided to follow these two.

It didn't go ignored.

"What the bloody hell was that? Was that someone's phone?"

"I, I think so, but where did it come from? That's not your ringtone…EH!"

Arthur after having heard Feliks' phone had only hesitated a bit before knowing where he heard the phone coming from, he walked unbelievably quick, and very noticeably angry toward the side window of his living room, threw it open and looked out…

Feliks hauled ass the moment his phone started ringing. He ran toward the side of Arthur's house in between his and his neighbors house and kept going, luckily Arthur lived in a place with other exist rather than like a cul-de-sac where there was one in and one out.

He didn't stick around to be caught and even luckier for him neither of these guys knew him well enough to know that that was his ringtone. Besides, a popular new song like that, so many high schoolers would have it…he was totally safe!

**WHAM**

"Gah! W-what the hell, move it assho-oh…god…"

Had he have run into anyone else Feliks would've called today a victory for his gossip column and his social life as the "queen of HHS news" but now that he sat looking up at Sadiq Adnan, the final "king" of this town his day just went straight to hell.

*D-dude, like why? Why of all people did it have to be HIM of all people, I mean like, if it was Ivan I could've diverted him by telling him Yao was at Arthur's house, and if it was Gil I coulda told him Ivan was not too far away looking for a fight, but HIM! Like, this totally sucks, I'm so freakin' screwed!*

**Sound of clearing throat**

"Hm, I don't think you were about to call me an asshole right, Feliks?"

'Like, no way! Never in a million, billion years Mr. Adnan, yeah, no way, actually…uh I was totally talking on my cell just now, y-yeah, stupid Toris, he can be such an asshole, ha-ha~"

"Oh? Really? Because I can see that no one's on the other line, your screen shows you're not talking to anyone, so now you're lying to me, Feliks?"

*Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, like, _shit_! I'm dead, I'm so totally completely dead, please, when they bury me, let it say on my headstone: Here lies Feliks Lukasiewicz, a total professional reporter, totally cool and really handsome guy. Goodbye cruel world!*

"Feliks! You jerk! What the hell did you think you were doing outside my house you wanker?"

"Arthur!"

*Like, thank you god, someone to save me~*

"I don't have any time to deal with you right now, be lucky I've got a lot to do today, Feliks, but run into me again, and I'll snap your arm like a pretzel stick. Got it?"

"I _totally_ do, ha-ha, yeah, yup, like a pretzel stick; I will NEVER do it again…ever! Bye-bye~"

As Sadiq walked away he eyed Arthur carefully, he also walked around him like there was a force field keeping Sadiq from coming too close. Arthur was confused as to why he did it, and he thought on it a bit before coming back to reality, to get back to talking to Feliks.

Who was running away again! As soon as Sadiq turned his back on him he got off the ground and kept running. There was no way in hell he was hanging around to get yelled at after his near death experience with Sadiq Adnan, oh no sir. And he was fast, Arthur didn't even try to go after him, he figured he'd just let him go and then confront him at school tomorrow.

"Jeez, what the hell is wrong with this week, if this keeps up all year I might die before I graduate…"

"Arthur, did you talk to Feliks, what was he doing, aru?"

*Sigh*

"He ran away, so I didn't get a chance to find out why he followed us and was listening in on our conversation…little that there was."

"Oh…so I guess we're going to have to talk to him tomorrow…and I guess…we'll wait to talk later too, seeing as who knows what kind of damage control we'll have to do tomorrow if Feliks runs his mouth…jeez, such a pain! Besides, it's kind of late and I have homework to do…so I guess, maybe we can talk over the weekend? That might work out much better!"

"Uh, y-yeah, sure. Why not…so I guess I'll see you Saturday then?"

"Right."

As Arthur and Yao walked back to Arthur's house both worried as to what Feliks would be spreading tomorrow for new gossip. Though Arthur didn't linger on that long, after he got Yao's coat and said his goodbye, his thoughts went back to why Sadiq walked around him…

"Why? Why did he do it? As one of the three gang leaders in this town why did he walk _around_ me, why not just keep going straight, I'm no threat to him, I've never even talked to him. I got mugged by one of his members before…back then…b-but I've never done anything to get his attention! Let alone his…his what? Was him walking around me, fear? Curiosity? Suspicion? What?*

"Damn! Screw it, I'm freaking tired. I'm just going to bed, screw all this crap, I have other things to worry about and think about. I'll do my homework during my free period tomorrow, so goodnight…"

…

Arthur looked around as he realized how empty everything was…to say goodnight to an empty house, to no one at all. He slowly moved over to the couch and even slower slumped to his knees and placed his face on the cushions, wrapping his arms around his head. And for the first time in a long time, Arthur started to cry.

* * *

**A/N:**

I have no excuses, I lost the will to write…I go through anime moods like I go through music moods. One minute I'm really into One piece, the next I'm re-watching Durarara! And now I'm going out of Durarara! And catching up in Naruto, so seeing as I'm still not fully in a Hetalia mood I question whether or not this chapter was at all good :/ I kind of just went with what I'm feeling this could go, which is different from where it was going 6 (7?) months ago…change in ideas, seeing as I was way more active when I was in school, now I'm kind of just moseying along. But whatever, here we go….

I do NOT own Hetalia nor did I create any of the characters, this is all fan created material, so please don't hate me ^ ^

Seeing as this is a Hetalia story the characters introduced are as followed:

Feliks Lukasiewicz - Poland (cliché gossip monger? I think I did, but what else can he be? Head cheerleader? I think not!)

Sadiq Annan - Turkey (and the final gang leader is revealed! So that makes it: Gil, Ivan and Sadiq, anyone saw that coming? And I will eventually tell you Ivan and Sadiq's gang names, but for now we just have Gil's)

And finally in mention:

Toris Lorinaitis - Lithuania (poor Lithuania always Poland's tool)

Feliks' ringtone is "Teenage Dream" by Katy Perry

No translations, wouldn't even know what to put for Polish or Turkish, besides, I think I put a good amount of Valley Girl in here, like totally.

NOTE: please tell me if you catch spelling mistakes, grammar mistakes, etc. I will re-read all of the chapters multiple times before submitting it, but just in case one sneaks by me, I will be ever so grateful to have them pointed out, nothing makes me angrier than a typo (other problems) , and I'll be embarrassed, but the sooner they're found the quicker I can correct them. Thank you :)


	8. Moving Accounts

Hello readers of S.I.C.,

It's been a long while since this story was updated, so long that perhaps everyone thought it got dropped! But that's not the case; actually, the story is set to have at least 4 new updates! However, it's simply going to move to the co-authors account.

S.I.C. and its first 7 chapters are going over here to u/3473839/ (or you can click on the link in my profile) following that she'll be uploading chapter 8, and then we're still working on chapters 10 and 11 but chapter 9 is also done and will follow chapter 8 after not too long.

We both thank you for following this story and hope you continue to do so over on the other account!

Your authors,

Fate and Sab


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